ML645101083

Observation details

Well!!! I'd actually thought it might take a while to track down any White-Eyes, Ashy-Bellied or otherwise... but, I kid you not, a whole squeaking and hopping horde of them appeared the moment I stepped off the jetty, in the first big tree shading the path!!! While the baby hybrid naturally was the first one I locked onto, given it was being so loud and obvious, I eventually found myself strolling to the helipad lookout to try for Reef Egrets... and, on the way there, I saw at least two Ashy-Bellies, as purebred as possible around here!!! Their name isn't actually that accurate to my mind, as the belly colour is much more cottony white than ashy grey, while their size was somewhat larger than a Silvereye... the brilliant yellow of the lores and solidly grass-green backs were more than apparent as they hopped and probed about more like a strange blend of a Honeyeater and a Citella than a Silvereye, and their silence was very conspicuous compared to the usual confusion birds!! To be honest, I'd question the need for Ashy-Bellies to be classed as "rare" here; Green Island is now probably best known for them as far as birding goes, there's enough purebreds to be easily found, and the whole concept of species purity and suchlike completely overlooks the deeply intriguing, entirely natural, even useful role of hybridisation in nature...