Swinhoe’s White-eye

Swinhoe’s White-eye

Zosterops simplex

Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~50% · Likely
at Guiyang

In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%

40 Verified sightings at Guiyang
1,272 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Swinhoe’s White-eye

Swinhoe's white-eye (Zosterops simplex) is a bird species in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is found in eastern China, Taiwan, north Vietnam, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Additionally, populations have also been introduced to Southern California, where their population has been expanding rapidly.

Swinhoe's white-eye was formally described in 1861 by the English naturalist Robert Swinhoe, who assigned it the binomial name Zosterops simplex. The genus Zosterops had been introduced by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827. 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".

This species was previously considered 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 elevated it to full species status.

Five subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:09

Vietnam · 2026

© Tim Dinh / Annambirding · XC1181674 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Nocturnal flight call0:12

China · 2026

© Xiangrong Yan · XC1180658 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:59

China · 2004

© Geoff Carey · XC934107 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~30%
2 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
3 Cuc Phuong National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~10%
4 Khao Yai National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
<5%
5 Jiuzhaigou National Park 🇨🇳 China
<5%
6 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Hanoi 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~90%
2 Taichung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~90%
3 Zhuhai [Macau] 🇨🇳 China
~80%
4 Hong Kong 🇨🇳 China
~80%
5 Kaohsiung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~80%
6 Xiamen City 🇨🇳 China
~80%
7 Taipei 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~80%
8 Guangzhou 🇨🇳 China
~70%
9 Shantou 🇨🇳 China
~70%
10 Fuzhou 🇨🇳 China
~70%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Leofoo Village Theme Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan In captivity
2 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens 🇨🇳 China In captivity
3 Edward Youde Aviary 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity
4 Reptile House 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Swinhoe’s White-eye in Guiyang?

Likely

About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Swinhoe’s White-eye sighting in Guiyang on a given day, based on 40 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 20th most-seen of the 79 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Swinhoe’s White-eye in Guiyang?

September and October

In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Swinhoe’s White-eye in Guiyang on a given day, against about 30% in December and January, the lowest months. February has too few records to rate.

What time of day is best to see a Swinhoe’s White-eye?

Between 3 and 6 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Swinhoe’s White-eye sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Is Guiyang the best place to see a Swinhoe’s White-eye?

13th of 45

Of the 45 cities where we can rate Swinhoe’s White-eye sightings, Guiyang ranks 13th at about 50%. The best odds are in Hanoi (Vietnam, about 90%), Taichung (Taiwan, about 90%) and Zhuhai [Macau] (China, about 80%).

Which relatives of the Swinhoe’s White-eye live in Guiyang?

Same family: Zosteropidae

The closest relatives of the Swinhoe’s White-eye that you can see in Guiyang (family Zosteropidae, White-eyes, Yuhinas, and Allies) are Indochinese Yuhina (about 20%) and Black-chinned Yuhina (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Swinhoe’s White-eye sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Swinhoe’s White-eye is recorded against all the birds logged in Guiyang (40 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.

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