The Seram white-eye (''Zosterops stalkeri'') 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 ...

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. It is an endemic resident breeder in open woodland in

Seram Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent i ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. It was formerly considered conspecific with black-fronted white-eye, ''Zosterops minor'', but work by Pamela C. Rasmussen and her colleagues showed that it is a separate species. The same research also confirmed the specific status of the Sangihe white-eye, ''Zosterops nehrkorni''. Compared to related taxa, the bill of Seram white-eye is paler, deeper, and broader at the base. Its eye-ring is narrow and broken at the front. The crown and sides of the head are black and the upperparts are dark bronze. The rump is a distinctive yellow-bronze. The sides of the breast and flanks are greyish-white, the undertail-coverts are orange-yellow, the thighs are whitish, and the uppertail is brownish-black. The sexes are similar, but immatures have the throat greener and more diffuse, with more black mixed into the chin feathers. Its song also differs from that of related species. Though mainly insectivorous, the Seram white-eye will also eat nectar and fruits of various kinds.

References

*P. C. RASMUSSEN, J. C. WARDILL, F. R. LAMBERT and J. RILEY. ''On the specific status of the Sangihe White-eye'' Zosterops nehrkorni'', and the taxonomy of the Black-crowned White-eye ''Z. atrifrons ''complex'': FORKTAIL 16 (2000): 69-80 {{Taxonbar, from=Q2225810 Seram white-eye Endemic birds of Seram Seram white-eye