The Socotra white-eye (''Zosterops socotranus'') is a bird

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the family

Zosteropidae The white-eyes are a family, Zosteropidae, of small passerine birds native to tropical, subtropical and temperate Sub-Saharan Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Australasia. White-eyes inhabit most tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, the ...

. It is found on the island of

Socotra Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ...

and in

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

. This species was formerly treated as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

Abyssinian white-eye The Abyssinian white-eye or white-breasted white-eye (''Zosterops abyssinicus'') is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus ''Zosterops'' in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. It is native to north-east Africa and southern Arabia. It is 10 ...

(''Zosterops abyssinicus'') named ''Zosterops abyssinicus socotranus''. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2014 found that it is not closely related to the Abyssinian white-eye and it is now treated as a separate species.

References

Socotra white-eye Fauna of Socotra Socotra white-eye Taxa named by Oscar Neumann {{Zosteropidae-stub