The new bird species, Cyornis and Zosterops, were discovered recently from Borneo. These species were inhabiting Meratus Mountains in south-eastern Borneo.

About Cyornis Genus

• Cyornis is a genus of passerine birds, belonging to Old-World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
• This genus comprises of 25 currently recognized species. It also includes some species which were previously placed in Rhinomyias genus.
• It is distributed across southern Asia, from Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Characteristics of Cyornis Flycatchers

Most of Cyornis flycatchers are sexually dimorphic in plumage. Males are blue above and blue & white or orange & white below. However, few species are sexually monomorphic and lack bright colours. This species is most closely related to Dayak blue flycatcher, but morphologically different due to lighter blue on the upper parts and less reddish & more whitish on the underparts.

About Zosterops

Zosterops is a genus of passerine birds. It comprises of typical white-eyes in family Zosteropidae. This genus comprises of more than 100 species. These species are distributed across Afrotropical, Australasian and Indomalayan, realms. These birds are supreme island colonizers. This is why, so many different white-eye species have evolved rapidly.

Feature of Zosterops species

Most characteristic feature of Zosterops white-eyes is its conspicuous white feather ring around eye. However, some species lack it. This species is most closely related to lemon-bellied white-eye, but different due to olive upperparts and darker underparts.

Species found in Borneo

The avian biodiversity and endemism of Borneo is significant. Around 50 endemic species have been described from the island under taxonomic arrangements. Many of these are montane specialists, while around 27 species are endemic to Borneo’s highlands.

By: Brijesh Kumar