| Kafa white-eye | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Zosteropidae |
| Genus: | Zosterops |
| Species: | Z. kaffensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Zosterops kaffensis Neumann, 1902 | |
The Kafa white-eye (Zosterops kaffensis) is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is found in west and southwest Ethiopia as well as on Mount Kulal in north Kenya. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of Ethiopian white-eye.
Taxonomy
The Kafa white-eye was formally described in 1902 by the German ornithologist Oscar Neumann from a specimen collected near Anderaccha in the Kaffa region of southwest Ethiopia. He placed the new species in the genus Zosterops and coined the current binomial name Zosterops kaffensis. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek zōstēros meaning "belt" or "girdle" with ōpos meaning "eye". The specific epithet kaffensis is from Kaffa Province, a former kingdom in south-western Ethiopia. The Kafa white-eye was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Ethiopian white-eye. It was elevated to species status based on the divergence of the mitochondrial DNA sequence and differences in plumage.
Two subspecies are recognised:
- Z. k. kaffensis Neumann, 1902 – west, southwest Ethiopia
- Z. k. kulalensis Williams, JG, 1948 – Mount Kulal (north Kenya)
References
- BirdLife International (2016). "Zosterops kaffensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T103891813A104271391. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103891813A104271391.en. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- Neumann, Oscar (1902). "Neues aus Afrika". Ornithologische Monatsberichte (in German). 10 (1): 8-10 .
- Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 332.
- Jobling, James A. "Zosterops". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- Jobling, James A. "kaffensis". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Sylviid babblers, parrotbills, white-eyes". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- Habel, J.C.; Borghesio, L.; Newmark, W.D.; Day, J.J.; Lens, L.; Husemann, M.; Ulrich, W. (2015). "Evolution along the Great Rift Valley: phenotypic and genetic differentiation of East African white-eyes (Aves, Zosteropidae)". Ecology and Evolution. 5 (21): 4849–4862. doi:10.1002/ece3.1735. PMC 4662327.
- Martins, F.C.; Cox, S.C.; Irestedt, M.; Prŷs-Jones, R.P.; Day, J.J. (2020). "A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Afrotropical white-eyes (Aves: Zosteropidae) highlights prior underestimation of mainland diversity and complex colonisation history". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 149: 106843. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106843.
| Taxon identifiers | |
|---|---|
| Zosterops kaffensis | |