Silvereye or Wax-eye

Description:

The Silvereye is a small bird with a conspicuous ring of white feathers around the eye, and belongs to a group of birds known as white-eyes. The Silvereye shows interesting plumage variations across its range. The grey back and olive-green head and wings are found in birds through the east, while western birds have a uniformly olive-green back. Breeding birds of the east coast have yellow throats, pale buff flanks (side of the belly) and white on the undertail. Tasmanian birds have grey throats, chestnut flanks and yellow on the undertail. To complicate this, the birds in the east have regular migrations within Australia and may replace each other in their different areas for parts of the year. Birds in Western Australia have yellowish olive, rather than grey, backs.

Habitat:

Silvereyes are more common in the south-east of Australia, but their range extends from Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, through the south and south-west to about Shark Bay, Western Australia. They are also found in Tasmania.

Notes:

Silvereyes feed on insect prey and large amounts of fruit and nectar, making them occasional pests of commercial orchards. Birds are seen alone, in pairs or small flocks during the breeding season, but form large flocks in the winter months.