Zosterops luteus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The canary white-eye or yellow white-eye (Zosterops luteus) is a species of white-eye endemic to northern Australia in subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. Its common name reflects the circle of white feathers around its eye.
Zosterops luteus is a small white-eye with a bright olive back and yellow underparts and lores. It has a characteristic ring of silver-white feathers around its eyes, with a dark loral stripe. It is a nectar feeder with a short, sharp beak and a brush-tipped tongue similar to the honeyeaters.
The bird is 100–110 mm long, with a wingspan of 52–59 mm, a bill of 13-16mm and weighs between 6.5 and 11.0 grams. The canary white-eye or yellow white-eye is a member of the family Zosteropidae, known as white-eyes, or silver-eyes. Their distribution includes Africa, south and east Asia, Australia, and many islands in the Indian and west Pacific Oceans.
The lectotype for this species is ANSP 18264, an adult male collected at Port Essington in the Northern Territory and held in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia. There is also a paralectotype ANSP 18265, another adult male collected from... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Yellow White-eye sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 158th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Yellow White-eye in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to December, the lowest months. That is one of Kakadu National Park's wettest months, with about 350 mm of rain against almost none in August. February has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Australian Yellow 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 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Australian Yellow White-eye sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Cape Range (Australia, about 30%) and Ningaloo Marine Park (Australia, about 30%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Australian Yellow White-eye that you can see in Kakadu National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Torresian Crow (about 70%), Willie Wagtail (about 60%) and White-bellied Cuckooshrike (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Australian Yellow White-eye is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (19 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
