'Foreigner' Silvereye bird sighted in Munnar

Munnar: The silvereye or wax-eye bird, a beautiful, very small omnivorous passerine bird seen in the green space in Australia and New Zealand, was sighted in Munnar.

The new guest has become a topic of discussion among birdwatchers. Its arrival has added another feature to the beauty of the breathtakingly idyllic tourist destination in the state.

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.

Silvereyes may occur in almost any wooded habitat, especially commercial orchards and urban parks and gardens.

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.

In New Zealand, the silvereye was first recorded in 1832. It arrived in greater numbers in 1856, and it is assumed that a migrating flock was swept eastwards by a storm. As an apparently self-introduced bird it is protected as a native New Zealand species.