Zosterops palpebrosus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The Indian white-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus), formerly the Oriental white-eye, is a small species of passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is a resident breeder in open woodland on the Indian subcontinent. They forage in small groups, feeding on nectar and small insects. The distinctive white eye-ring and overall yellowish upperparts easily identify them. The range previously extended eastwards to Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Their name was recently changed because previous members of Zosterops palpebrosus in Southeast Asia were reclassified as a new species, making the Indian White-eye a more geographically accurate term for this species.
The Indian white-eye was described by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1824, based on a specimen collected in Bengal. He coined the binomial name Sylvia palpebrosa. The English and scientific names refer to the conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eyes, palpebrosus being Neo-Latin for "having prominent eyelids", from the Latin palpebrae "eyelids".
The English name of this species was changed from "Oriental white-eye" to "Indian white-eye" to more accurately reflect the geographic range following... Wikipedia →
Recording0:12
India · 2025
© Ashwin A · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
Recording0:10
China · 2022
© Yi-Shan Zhao · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:17
India · 2025
© Sarvesh Arun · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 2 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Indian White-eye sighting in Bhubaneshwar on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 117th most-seen of the 148 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian White-eye in Bhubaneshwar on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Bhubaneshwar's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 340 mm in July.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian White-eye sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
43rd of 46
Of the 46 cities where we can rate Indian White-eye sightings, Bhubaneshwar ranks 43rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Dehradun (India, about 60%), Nashik (India, about 50%) and Islamabad (Pakistan, about 50%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Indian White-eye that you can see in Bhubaneshwar (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Black Drongo (about 90%), Jungle Babbler (about 80%) and Red-whiskered Bulbul (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian White-eye is recorded against all the birds logged in Bhubaneshwar (17 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.
