CONTEXT:

• Zoologists from Trinity College with partners from Halu Oleo University (UHO) and Operation Wallacea, have discovered two new bird species in the Wakatobi Archipelago of Sulawesi, Indonesia.

BACKGROUND:

• The two new white-eye species found by Trinity and UHO; they are both found on the Wakatobi Islands, just off mainland South-east Sulawesi. However, the two species could not be more different.
• Another bird, Wangi-wangi white-eye, remained unnoticed until the beginning of the 21st century when Professor Marples’ research group visited the island from which it takes its name.
• These white eyed birds are adaptable and can have wide variety of fruits, flowers and insects.
• The Wakatobi white-eye is found throughout the Wakatobi Islands and split from its mainland relatives in the last 800,000 years.
• Wangi-wangi white-eye is a much older species found on only one tiny island, with its closest relatives found more than 3,000 km away.