Golden white-eye

Golden white-eye

Ptilotis marchei is a species of bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is endemic to the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The bird is monogamous and lays two eggs in a small cup nest.

About Golden white-eye in brief

Summary Golden white-eyePtilotis marchei is a species of bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is the only species within the genus Cleptornis. The species is endemic to the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, where it currently occurs on the islands of Saipan and Aguijan. The bird is monogamous and lays two eggs in a small cup nest. It feeds on insects, fruit, and nectar and forages in pairs or small family groups. Despite its current abundance, it is considered to be critically endangered by the invasive brown tree snake, which has become established on nearby Guam. Efforts are under way to control the snakes and breed thewhite-eye in zoos. The song is a long raspy warble, rendered as “sé mé-cané sé y sé” or “You can sé má sé cané y cané” The species also makes a rasping whistling call, which is also called “mé y mé mós sé”, which means “you can y cany sé”. It is possibly most closely related to the Micronesian white-eyes of the genus Rukia, or the monotypic Bonin white-Eye.

It was once called the golden honeyeater as it was considered. to be a honeyeaters, but it is now known that it is a white- eye. It has bright, unmistakable plumage, with: an orange-yellow head coupled with a pale eye-ring; a yellow-green, wings, and golden undersides. The bill and legs are also orange, and the males are similar; the females have similar, though the juveniles have duller, duller patches on the face and neck and brown-yellow streaks on the breast. It once also occurred on Tinian and Rota but was extirpated in those locations through the impact of human activities. Despite the fact that it has among the highest recorded densities for any bird, it is nevertheless considered to have one of the highest densities of birds in the world. The golden white- Eye differs from the other white- eyes in having large eyes and an outermost primary wing feather that is not reduced.