Silvereye

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. It feeds 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.