Orange River white-eye

Zosterops pallidus

The Orange River white-eye, ''Zosterops pallidus'', is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is native to southern Africa.
Cape white_eye Loads of these lovely little birds around at the moment, they are just adorable! Cape White-eye,Geotagged,South Africa,Winter,Zosterops pallidus,birds,south africa,tree birds

Appearance

This species is about 12 cm long with rounded wings, strong legs, and a conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eyes. The upperparts are green, and the throat and vent are bright yellow. The members of the nominate group have a pale yellow central belly with peach coloured flanks. The members of the ''capensis'' subgroup have a grey breast and belly, while the ''virens'' subgroup have a greenish-yellow breast and belly.

They are very vocal, and constantly keep in touch with soft trilled ''pee'', ''pree'' or ''pirreee'' callnotes. The song consists of repeated long jerky phrases of sweet reedy notes, varying in pitch, volume and temp, usually starting off with ''teee teee'' or ''pirrup pirrup'' notes, then becoming a fast rambled jumble of notes, which may incorporate mimicked phrases of other birdcalls.
Cape white-eye  Cape White-eye,Geotagged,South Africa,Summer,Zosterops pallidus,birds,south africa

Distribution

It is found in a wide range of densely to lightly wooded habitats in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland. Most populations are resident, but some perform minor seasonal movements.
Cape White-eye These lovely little birds are frequent visitors to my bird table and have even taken to entering my parrots cage to steal his food! Cape White-eye,Fall,Geotagged,South Africa,Zosterops pallidus,birds

Behavior

This is a sociable species forming large flocks outside the breeding season. It builds a cup nest in a tree and lays 2-3 unspotted pale blue eggs. The eggs hatch in 11–12 days, and fledging occurs in another 12–13 days. The peak breeding season is September to December.

The Cape White-eye feeds mainly on insects, but also soft fleshy flowers, nectar, fruit and small grains. It readily comes to bird feeders.

References:

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Status: Least concern
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyZosteropidae
GenusZosterops
SpeciesZ. pallidus
Photographed in
South Africa