Silvereye

Description:

The silver-eye is a very small bird (120mm) native to New Zealand. It is also known by other names - white-eye,waxeye,blightbird or tauhau which means"stranger" or more literally, "new arrival" in the Maori language. They breed in spring and early summer (mainly between September and December). Both sexes share in the building of the nest making a tiny cup shaped structure with an inside of about 5 cm. Common nesting materials are fine grass, moss, rootlets, hairs, spiderweb, and thistledown. The nest is suspended from a small tree or shrub and 2 to 4 (usually 3) are laid. Most eggs are laid between October and December. The eggs are pale blue without any markings and are laid one each day.

Habitat:

Silvereyes live almost anywhere in New Zealand from sea level to about 1200 m wherever bushes or trees are present.

Notes:

The Silvereye naturally colonised New Zealand and was first recorded in 1832 with a dramtic increase from 1856 due to many making the non-stop journey accross the Tasman Sea from Australia which is a journey of at least 1500 km - possibly helped by westerly wind currents.