Warbling White-eye

Warbling White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) is a tiny olive-green bird with yellow throat, pale underparts and a bold ring of white feathers around each eye. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is native across much of East Asia including Japan, travels in active flocks through forests, gardens and towns and feeds on insects, nectar and fruit while giving frequent musical calls. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).