OUR WORK
Australia is a world leader in species extinction and declines, largely due to invasive species.
Our Work | Ending extinction | Photo by Richard Holdaway
Extinct: White-chested white-eye
- Common name: White-chested white-eye
- Scientific name: Zosterops Albogularis
- Formal national status: Extinct
- Decade of extinction: 2000s
- Expert assessment of extinction causes: Invasive species (black rat 68%), land clearing 23%
This is Australia’s most recently extinct bird, and the only bird species lost from Australia since 1927. A denizen of Norfolk Island, it was common when surveyed in 1926, but by 1962 fewer than 50 were thought to survive. Rigorous searches by visiting ornithologists in the 1980s, 2009, and more recently have failed to find it, and in 2000 it was declared extinct. A final plausible sighting was made by resident naturalist Margaret Christian in 2005. On two occasions that year she said she saw a single bird.
Black rats, which arrived on the island in about 1943, are blamed for its demise. Further east, on Lord Howe Island, black rats caused several bird extinctions, including that of the robust white-eye, a closely related bird.
The white-chested white-eye was not helped by past clearing of its habitat. Only 10% of the subtropical rainforest on the island remains, mainly in the national park. The white-eyes were known to visit weedy vegetation and gardens, but the large areas of pasture were unusable. With most of the clearing having taken place during the convict era in the 19th century, this doesn’t explain the decline in the 20th century.
The arrival of the silvereye from Australia – a closely related bird with a similar diet – would not have helped the white-chested white-eye. The island also has slender-billed white-eyes living in the rainforests and all 3 species would have operated as competitors. In 2013 silvereyes and slender-bills were estimated to each have a population of 4,000 or more. They are slightly smaller birds than their extinct cousin.
White-chested white-eyes could have been saved without much effort if some had been caught in the 1960s for a captive colony. Asian species of white-eye are easy to keep in cages and often sold in bird markets.
No photo of a live white-chested white-eye has ever been published, although one is said to exist. Museum bird mounts do little to convey an impression of the living species.
Photo: Richard Holdaway
Extinct
Australia has lost about 100 native plants and animals to extinction since colonisation, most of which were mainly due to invasive species. An estimated 27 of those extinctions occurred since the 1960s.
Learn more about some of Australia’s lost animals: