#1398 · 🐦 birds

Silvereye

🇳🇱 Grijsrugbrilvogel ·Zosterops lateralis

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 outside Europe

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © BIHNZ · CC BY 4.0
2. © Tom · CC BY 4.0
3. © rosiebug · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Linda Cross · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © Pete McGregor · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
6. Frankton, Queenstown, New Zealand:© Mary Joyce · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. Stillwater 0993, New Zealand:© Linda · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. Otatara 9879, New Zealand:© Lloyd Esler · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. Aongatete, New Zealand:© Jacqui Geux · CC BY 4.0
10. Oropi 3173, New Zealand:© Brett Payne · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The silvereye or wax-eye ( Zosterops lateralis ) is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye , but this name is more commonly used to refer to all members of the genus Zosterops , or the entire family Zosteropidae.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 25,370iNaturalist observations
weight 1.3 gadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
25,370 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs only about 1 g.
Scientifically named by John Latham in 1801 (225 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Silvereye
Nederlands: Grijsrugbrilvogel
scientific name: Zosterops lateralis
class: Aves
order: Passeriformes
family: Zosteropidae
IUCN Red List: LC · least concern
sightings in NL: 0
sightings worldwide: 25,370
GBIF records in NL: 0
weight: 1.3 g
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1801 by John Latham

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 202505, Wikidata Q313394, GBIF 2489396, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.