Zosterops luteus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
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 |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Yellow White-eye sighting in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, based on 96 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 20th most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and August
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Yellow White-eye in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, against about 10% in May, the lowest month. Those are among Ningaloo Marine Park's wettest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against almost none in October.
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.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Australian Yellow White-eye sightings, Ningaloo Marine Park ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Cape Range (Australia, about 30%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Australian Yellow White-eye that you can see in Ningaloo Marine Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Singing Honeyeater (about 70%), Pied Butcherbird (about 60%) and Welcome Swallow (about 50%), 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 Ningaloo Marine Park (96 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.
