LC
Kikuyu White-eye Zosterops kikuyuensis



Taxonomy

Taxonomic note

Zosterops poliogastrus, Z. kaffensis, Z. kulalensis, Z. kikuyuensis, Z. silvanus, Z. eurycricotus, Z. mbuluensis and Z. winifredae (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as Z. poliogastrus following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993) and Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2024 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Not Recognised
2008 Not Recognised
2004 Not Recognised
2000 Not Recognised
1994 Not Recognised
1988 Not Recognised
Species attributes

Migratory status not a migrant Forest dependency medium
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 28,200 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown - - -
Population trend decreasing - - -
Generation length 2.55 years - - -

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as locally common to abundant in much of its range (van Balen 2016). This species is considered to have a medium dependency on forest habitat, and tree cover is estimated to have declined by 2.7% within its mapped range over the past 10 years (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). Therefore, as a precautionary measure, it is tentatively suspected that this loss of cover may have led to a decline of between 1-19% in the species' population size over the same time frame.

Trend justification:   .


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Kenya extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
Kenya Aberdare Mountains
Kenya Kikuyu Escarpment forest
Kenya Mount Kenya

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial Plantations marginal resident
Artificial/Terrestrial Rural Gardens suitable resident
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane major resident
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude suitable resident
Altitude 1380 - 3400 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Kikuyu White-eye Zosterops kikuyuensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/kikuyu-white-eye-zosterops-kikuyuensis on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.