Zosterops palpebrosus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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
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China · 2022
© Yi-Shan Zhao · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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India · 2025
© Sarvesh Arun · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 2 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report an Indian White-eye sighting in Islamabad on a given day, based on 399 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 12th most-seen of the 123 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, April and December
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report an Indian White-eye in Islamabad on a given day, against about 20% in July and August, the lowest months.
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.
3rd of 46
Of the 46 cities where we can rate Indian White-eye sightings, Islamabad ranks 3rd at about 50%. The best odds are in Dehradun (India, about 60%) and Nashik (India, about 50%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Indian White-eye that you can see in Islamabad (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are House Crow (over 90%), House Sparrow (about 70%) and Oriental Magpie-Robin (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 Islamabad (399 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.
