The Abyssinian white-eye or white-breasted white-eye (''Zosterops abyssinicus'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

belonging to the genus ''

Zosterops ''Zosterops'' (meaning "eye-Zoster (costume), girdle") is a genus of passerine birds containing the typical white-eyes in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. The genus has the largest number of species in the white-eye family. They occur in the A ...

'' in the

white-eye 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, ...

family Zosteropidae. It is native to north-east

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the

Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna The Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna, also known as the Southwestern Arabian Escarpment shrublands and woodlands, is a deserts and xeric shrublands, desert and xeric shrubland ecoregion of the South Arabia, southern Arabian Peninsula, cover ...

. It is 10–12 cm long. The upperparts are green; darker and greyer in northern races. There is a narrow white ring around the eye and a thin black line between the bill and eye. The underparts vary from pale yellow to greyish-white depending on the race. The bird has various twittering and buzzing calls. In Africa it occurs from north-east

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

south through

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

to north-east

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. It is also found on

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

Island. In Arabia it occurs in south-west

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

and southern

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. It occurs in open woodland, scrub,

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

s and gardens. It is found up to 1,800 metres above sea-level in Africa and 3,100 metres in Arabia. It usually forages among branches in trees but sometimes descends to ground-level. It feeds mainly on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s and will also take

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

from flowers.

Notes

References

* Hollom, P. A. D.; Porter, R. F.; Christensen, S. & Willis, Ian (1988) ''Birds of the Middle East and North Africa'', T & AD Poyser, Calton, England. * Sinclair, I. & Ryan, P. (2003) ''Birds of Africa South of the Sahara'', Struik, Cape Town. * Zimmerman, D. A.; Turner, D. A. & Pearson, D. J. (1999) ''Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania'', Christopher Helm, London. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3178456

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 Africa is the world's s ...

Birds of the Horn of Africa Birds of the Arabian Peninsula

Taxa named by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville