Zosterops maderaspatanus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The Malagasy white-eye (Zosterops maderaspatanus) is a species of bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. Found in Madagascar and Seychelles, its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Malagasy white-eye in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Madagascar. He used the French name Le petit figuier de Madagascar and the Latin Ficedula Madagascariensis minor. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the Malagasy white-eye. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Motacilla maderaspatana and cited Brisson's work. Although Linnaeus gave the type locality as Madagascar he confusingly used the...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Ranomafana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 3 | Montagne d'Ambre National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 4 | Berenty Reserve | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 5 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar White-eye sighting in Montagne d'Ambre National Park on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 30 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.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Madagascar White-eye sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Madagascar White-eye sightings, Montagne d'Ambre National Park ranks 3rd at about 50%. The best odds are in Mantadia National Park (Madagascar, about 70%) and Ranomafana National Park (Madagascar, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Madagascar White-eye that you can see in Montagne d'Ambre National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Madagascar Bulbul (about 60%), Souimanga Sunbird (about 60%) and Amber Mountain Rock-Thrush (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Madagascar White-eye is recorded against all the birds logged in Montagne d'Ambre National Park (22 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.
