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Yellow White-eye (Zosterops luteus) Alternate name(s): "Canary White-eye", "Yellow Silvereye", "Pale Silvereye", "Pale-bellied Silvereye" Size: 9.5-11.5 cm; wing span: ca. 14-18 cm Body mass: 6.5-12 g

Australia: Family Group 26 Family Group 26 Table Australian Reed-Warbler Spinifexbird Tawny Grassbird Little Grassbird Golden-headed Cisticola Zitting Cisticola Rufous Songlark Brown Songlark Yellow White-eye Ash-bellied White-eye Silvereye Bassian Thrush Russet-tailed Thrush Metallic Starling Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Yellow White-eyes are small bushland birds. They have conspicuous white eye-rings and black lores. Nominate race "luteus" has a bright-yellow front and an olive-yellow back, with dark-grey edges on the flight feathers and tail feathers. Race "balstoni" has a more greyish-yellow front and a more olive back. The eyes have brown irises. The short, slightly downcurved bill is dark-grey; the legs and feet are grey. Twitcher's tip Compared with Silvereyes, Yellow White-eyes have more uniform colour patterns. There is no overlap in the ranges of the two species.

Taxonomy, classification See Yellow White-eye at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Yellow White-eye is available HERE . There are two races of Yellow White-eyes, both of which are endemic to Australia. Nominate race "luteus" populates the North coast from about Prince Regent NR, WA, across the coastal regions of the NT (including several offshore islands) to the East coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, about halfway up to the tip of Cape York peninsula, QLD. There is an additional, isolated population of race "luteus" at the mouth of the Burdekin River, QLD. Race "balstoni" populates the North-West coast of Australia, from Prince Regent NR in the East to Dirk Hartog Island, WA. Yellow White-eyes have a preference for mangrove and adjacent thickets.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "luteus" M. Mearns reports spotting a Yellow White-eye, race "luteus", at Kurumba, QLD, at the mouth of the Norman River on the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, in June 2007. B. Hensen reports spotting a Yellow White-eye, race "luteus", at Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, in April 2013. H. Mouritsen reports spotting Yellow White-eyes, race "luteus", near Darwin, NT, in October 2015. M. Mearns spotted a Yellow White-eye, race "luteus", in Blackbull, near Croydon, QLD, in July 2016. P. Brown found Yellow White-eyes, race "luteus", in mangrove in an intertidal wetland at Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, in January 2018 and again in October 2018. M. Mearns spotted a Yellow White-eye, race "luteus", at Home Hill, QLD, near the mouth of the Burdekin River, in September 2019. This is one of a small number of isolated sites where they can be found along the tropical eastern coastline of QLD. M. Eaton found a Yellow White-eye, race "luteus", at Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT, in July 2020. Race "balstoni" M. Eaton reports spotting Yellow White-eyes, race "balstoni", at Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, in July 2026.

Photos

Race "luteus"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Kurumba, QLD, June 2007]

Frontal view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Kurumba, QLD, June 2007]

Frontal/ventral view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, January 2018]

Near-frontal view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Near-lateral view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, April 2013]

Lateral view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Lateral view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Dorsal view of a Yellow White-eye looking sideways (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, October 2018]

Close-up ventral view of a Yellow White-eye (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Kurumba, QLD, June 2007]

Ventral view of Yellow White-eyes in mangrove (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, January 2018]

Race "balstoni"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Yellow White-eye with its prey, a spider (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Mob of Yellow White-eyes finding something of interest in the pneumatophores (air roots) of mangrove
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Mob/flock

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a Yellow White-eye with its prey, a spider (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

This crafty Yellow White-eye knows where to find water (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Home Hill, QLD, September 2019]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

yelweye_pb_20180831.m4a	luteus (Top End, NT)	Contact calls? (in-flight)	© PB
yelweye_pb_20201014.m4a	luteus (Top End, NT)	Various	© PB
yelweye_pb_20191015.m4a	luteus (Top End, NT)	Various	© PB
yelweye_pb_20191015_2.m4a	luteus (Top End, NT)	Various	© PB
yelweye_pb_20200126.m4a	luteus (Top End, NT)	Various	© PB

More Yellow White-eye sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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