Swinhoe's white-eye explained

Swinhoe's white-eye (Zosterops simplex) is a bird species in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. It is found in east China, Taiwan, north Vietnam, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Populations have also been introduced throughout Southern California.

Taxonomy

Swinhoe's white-eye was formally described in 1861 by the English naturalist Robert Swinhoe and given the binomial name Zosterops simplex.^[1] The genus Zosterops had been introduced by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827.^[2] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek words zōstēros meaning "belt" or "girdle" and ōpos meaning "eye". The specific epithet simplex is Latin meaning "simple" or "plain".^[3]

This species was formerly treated as a subspecies group of the Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus) but based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018, it was promoted to species rank.^{[4] [5]}

Five subspecies are recognised:^[5]

• Z. s. simplex R. Swinhoe, 1861 – east China, Taiwan and extreme northeast Vietnam
• Z. s. hainanus Hartert, 1923 – Hainan (off southeast China)
• Z. s. erwini (Chasen, 1935) – coastal Thai-Malay Peninsula, lowland Sumatra, Riau Islands, Bangka Island, Natuna Islands and lowland west Borneo
• Z. s. williamsoni Robinson & Kloss, 1919 – Gulf of Thailand coast and west Cambodia
• Z. s. salvadorii Meyer, AB & Wiglesworth, 1894 – Enggano Island (west Sumatra)

Notes and References

1. Swinhoe . Robert . Robert Swinhoe . 1861 . Notes on ornithology taken between Takoo and Peking, in the neighbourhood of the Peiho River, Province of Chelee, North China, from August to December, 1860 . Ibis . 323–345 [331] .
2. Vigors . Nicholas Aylward . Nicholas Aylward Vigors . Horsfield . Thomas . Thomas Horsfield . 1827 . Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities . Transactions of the Linnean Society of London . 15 . 1 . en, la. 170–334 [234] . 10.1111/j.1095-8339.1826.tb00115.x. The title page is dated 1826.
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 414, 356.
4. Lim . B.T.M. . Sadanandan . K.R. . Dingle . C. . Leung . Y.Y. . Prawiradilaga . D.M. . Irham . M. . Ashari . H. . Lee . J.G.H. . Rheindt . F.E. . 2018 . Molecular evidence suggests radical revision of species limits in the great speciator white‑eye genus Zosterops . Journal of Ornithology . 160 . 1–16 . 10.1007/s10336-018-1583-7 .
5. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . August 2022 . Sylviid babblers, parrotbills, white-eyes . IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 14 October 2022 .