The teardrop white-eye (''Rukia ruki''), also known as the Faichuk white-eye, Truk white-eye, or great Truk white-eye, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

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 ...

. Some advocate that it is the only true member of the genus ''Rukia'', or the "great white-eyes".

Distribution and habitat

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the summit of Mount Winipot on Tol, in the

Faichuk Faichuk (also Faichuuk, Tol, or the Western Islands) are a group of four islands separated from one another by narrow canals in the western part of Truk Lagoon, Chuuk, Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of a ...

group of islands within the Chuuk (Truk)

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

. Its habitat is montane rainforest dominated by the endemic Chuuk poisontree. Due to its restricted range on one small mountaintop and the locals' disdain for the native poisontree, it is severely threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet

teardrop white-eye The teardrop white-eye (''Rukia ruki''), also known as the Faichuk white-eye, Truk white-eye, or great Truk white-eye, is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. Some advocate that it is the only true member of the genus ''Rukia'', or the " ...

Birds of the Federated States of Micronesia

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Zosteropidae-stub