Zosterornis Explained

Zosterornis is a genus of passerine birds in the white-eye family Zosteropidae.The five species in the genus are endemic to the Philippines.

Taxonomy

The genus Zosterornis was introduced in 1894 by the Scottish ornithologist William Robert Ogilvie-Grant to accommodate his newly described species, the chestnut-faced babbler, which thus becomes the type species.^{[1] [2]} The name combines the Ancient Greek zōstēr meaning "belt" with ornis meaning "bird".^[3]

These species were formerly included in the genus Stachyris in the Old World babblers family Timaliidae.^[4] They were moved to their own genus Zosterornis in the white-eye family Zosteropidae based on molecular phylogenetic studies published in the first decade of the 21st century.^{[5] [6]}

The genus contains the following five species:^[7]

• Chestnut-faced babbler, Zosterornis whiteheadi
• Luzon striped babbler, Zosterornis striatus
• Panay striped babbler, Zosterornis latistriatus
• Negros striped babbler, Zosterornis nigrorum
• Palawan striped babbler, Zosterornis hypogrammicus

Notes and References

1. Ogilvie-Grant . 1894 . Descriptions of new species of Philippine birds . Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . 3 . 19 . 49–51 [50].
2. Book: Dickinson . E.C. . Edward C. Dickinson . Christidis . L. . Leslie Christidis . 2014 . The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . 2: Passerines . 4th . Eastbourne, UK . Aves Press . 978-0-9568611-2-2 . 517 .
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 414 .
4. Book: Mayr . Ernst . Ernst Mayr . Paynter . Raymond A. Jr . 1964 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 10 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 302 .
5. Cibois . A. . Kalyakin . M.V. . Lian-Xian . H. . Pasquet . E. . 2002 . Molecular phylogenetics of babblers (Timaliidae): revaluation of the genera Yuhina and Stachyris . Journal of Avian Biology . 33 . 4 . 380–390 . 10.1034/j.1600-048X.2002.02882.x .
6. Zhang . S. . Yang . L. . Yang . X. . Yang . J. . 2007 . Molecular phylogeny of the yuhinas (Sylviidae: Yuhina): a paraphyletic group of babblers including Zosterops and Philippine Stachyris . Journal of Ornithology . 148 . 4 . 417–426 . 10.1007/s10336-007-0150-4 . free .
7. 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 . 21 September 2022 .