Zosterops abyssinicus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The Abyssinian white-eye or white-breasted white-eye (Zosterops abyssinicus) is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Zosterops in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. It is native to north-east Africa and the Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna.
It is 10–12 cm long. The upperparts are green; darker and greyer in northern races. There is a narrow white ring around the eye and a thin black line between the bill and eye. The underparts vary from pale yellow to greyish-white depending on the race. The bird has various twittering and buzzing calls.
In Africa it occurs from north-east Sudan south through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somaliland and Kenya to north-east Tanzania. It is also found on Socotra Island. In Arabia it occurs in south-west Saudi Arabia, Yemen and southern Oman. It occurs in open woodland, scrub, wadis and gardens. It is found up to 1,800 metres above sea-level in Africa and 3,100 metres in Arabia. It usually forages among branches in trees but sometimes descends to ground-level. It feeds mainly on insects and will also take nectar from flowers.
Hollom, P. A. D.; Porter, R. F.; Christensen, S. & Willis, Ian (1988) Birds of the Middle East... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Abyssinian White-eye sighting in Addis Ababa on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 68th most-seen of the 109 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and November–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Abyssinian White-eye in Addis Ababa on a given day, against under 5% in January–May and July–October, the lowest months. Those are among Addis Ababa's driest months, with about 50 mm of rain a month against 250 mm in August.
Only Addis Ababa, in our data
Addis Ababa is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Abyssinian White-eye sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Zosterops
The closest relatives of the Abyssinian White-eye that you can see in Addis Ababa (genus Zosterops, Typical White-eyes) are Heuglin's White-eye (about 30%) and Kafa white-eye (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Abyssinian White-eye is recorded against all the birds logged in Addis Ababa (21 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
