Kafa white-eye explained

The Kafa white-eye (Zosterops kaffensis) is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is found in west and southwest Ethiopia as well as on Mount Kulal in north Kenya. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of Ethiopian white-eye.

Taxonomy

The Kafa white-eye was formally described in 1902 by the German ornithologist Oscar Neumann from a specimen collected near Anderaccha in the Kaffa region of southwest Ethiopia. He placed the new species in the genus Zosterops and coined the current binomial name Zosterops kaffensis.^{[1] [2]} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek zōstēros meaning "belt" or "girdle" with ōpos meaning "eye".^[3] The specific epithet kaffensis is from Kaffa Province, a former kingdom in south-western Ethiopia.^[4] The Kafa white-eye was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Ethiopian white-eye. It was elevated to species status based on the divergence of the mitochondrial DNA sequence and differences in plumage.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Two subspecies are recognised:^[5]

• Z. k. kaffensis Neumann, 1902 – west, southwest Ethiopia
• Z. k. kulalensis Williams, JG, 1948 – Mount Kulal (north Kenya)

Notes and References

1. Neumann . Oscar . Oscar Neumann . 1902 . Neues aus Afrika . Ornithologische Monatsberichte . 10 . 1 . 8-10 [10] . German .
2. Book: Paynter . Raymond A. Jr . 1986 . Check-list of Birds of the World . 12 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 332 .
3. Web site: Jobling . James A. . Zosterops . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 8 September 2024 .
4. Web site: Jobling . James A. . kaffensis . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 8 September 2024 .
5. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . August 2024 . Sylviid babblers, parrotbills, white-eyes . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 8 September 2024 .
6. Habel . J.C. . Borghesio . L. . Newmark . W.D. . Day . J.J. . Lens . L. . Husemann . M. . Ulrich . W. . 2015 . Evolution along the Great Rift Valley: phenotypic and genetic differentiation of East African white-eyes (Aves, Zosteropidae) . Ecology and Evolution . 5 . 21 . 4849-4862 . 10.1002/ece3.1735 . free . 4662327 .
7. Martins . F.C. . Cox . S.C. . Irestedt . M. . Prŷs-Jones . R.P. . Day . J.J. . 2020 . A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Afrotropical white-eyes (Aves: Zosteropidae) highlights prior underestimation of mainland diversity and complex colonisation history . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 149 . 106843 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106843.