Christmas white-eye facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Christmas white-eye |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Zosterops
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| Species: |
natalis
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The Christmas white-eye (Zosterops natalis) is a small bird that belongs to the white-eye family. It lives only on Christmas Island, making it an endemic species. This bird's natural habitats are moist forests and shrublands in tropical areas. Sadly, its home is being destroyed, which puts the bird at risk.
Contents
About the Christmas White-Eye
The Christmas white-eye is a small bird, about 11.7 to 13.5 centimeters long. That's roughly the length of a pen! Its upper body is a greyish-olive color, and its belly is whitish. You can spot it by a yellowish stripe above its eye and a clear white feather ring around each eye. This white ring is how white-eyes get their name.
Where They Live and Their Homes
The group of birds called Zosterops (which includes the Christmas white-eye) are often found on islands. In fact, most of the 98 Zosterops species live only on islands. Many of them are found on just one island! These birds are very successful because they can eat many different things and can travel far.
The Christmas white-eye lives only on Christmas Island. However, some of these birds were moved to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. They have settled there, mostly near places where people live. On Christmas Island, you can find them in forests all over the island, up to about 360 meters high. They also live in gardens, old mining areas, and even on farms where there are many weeds.
What They Eat and How They Live
The Christmas white-eye has a varied diet. It eats many different things, including fruits, seeds, nectar from flowers, and insects. This flexible diet helps them survive in different places.
Their Conservation Status
Christmas Island faces a big problem with an invasive insect called the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes). These ants have caused huge changes to the island's nature. For example, they have greatly reduced the number of red land crabs. They have also caused more stinging trees to grow in the forest canopy.
Interestingly, the yellow crazy ants also help tiny insects called scale insects. These scale insects provide food for the white-eye. Because of this, the increase in ant numbers has not harmed the Christmas white-eye as much as people first thought.
The Christmas white-eye is a common bird, and its population is stable. However, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has listed it as "Near Threatened". This means it could become endangered in the future. The main reason is that it lives in a very small area.
About 5% of the Christmas white-eye population lives on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This second group of birds is important. It helps reduce the risk that a natural disaster on Christmas Island could cause the entire species to become extinct.
Images for kids
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A Christmas white-eye bird.
See also
In Spanish: Anteojitos de la Christmas para niños
