6 thoughts on “Chestnut-sided White-eye (Zosterops mayottensis)”
I have been working on Mayotte since the last 24 years, conducting visits every year of almost for various studies, including coordinating the lasgt Red List working group with GEPOMAY as part of a contract with DEAL. I have not been to Mayotte yet this year and have not been able to make my own opinion on consequences of Chido on bird species and their habitats? However, I think it is premature to decide upon a uplisting of this species based on possible consequences of Chido on its population. This white-eye is not at all a typical forest species, although he is also found in all types of forests at low densities (including mangroves where it is well represented). The species is more representative and reaches higher abundances in brushland and dry (low) forests found in the past. My report Rocamora G. 2004 Les oiseaux des espaces remarquables de Mayotte. Rapport DAF (available from my Research Gate) provides evidence of this. Hence habitat changes due to the degradation of forests may not be necessarily negative. Even if there WAS concording evidence from various sources about a rarefaction of this species, we should wait for 2-3 years to give a chance to populations to recover after Chido before concluding that they have declined and that the species conservation status should be changed to NT. Therefore, I am not favourable to this change, at least for the time being.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 25 April 2025. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 25 April 2025, when discussions will re-open.
We thank Gerard for their helpful comment on this species. As the current assessment was based on forest loss, and given the species’ higher abundance in brushland and adaptability to man-made environments, inferring an overall, continuing decline in habitat may be too precautionary. The species is therefore considered unlikely to be approaching the thresholds for a threatened category at this time, although further monitoring would be useful in determining the impact the outlined threats are having on the population.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2025 Red List would be to list Chestnut-sided White-eye as Least Concern.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 4 May 2025, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2025 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 12 May 2025.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Chestnut-sided White-eye is recommended to be listed as Least Concern.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2025.2 GTB Forum process. The final Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
I have been working on Mayotte since the last 24 years, conducting visits every year of almost for various studies, including coordinating the lasgt Red List working group with GEPOMAY as part of a contract with DEAL. I have not been to Mayotte yet this year and have not been able to make my own opinion on consequences of Chido on bird species and their habitats? However, I think it is premature to decide upon a uplisting of this species based on possible consequences of Chido on its population. This white-eye is not at all a typical forest species, although he is also found in all types of forests at low densities (including mangroves where it is well represented). The species is more representative and reaches higher abundances in brushland and dry (low) forests found in the past. My report Rocamora G. 2004 Les oiseaux des espaces remarquables de Mayotte. Rapport DAF (available from my Research Gate) provides evidence of this. Hence habitat changes due to the degradation of forests may not be necessarily negative. Even if there WAS concording evidence from various sources about a rarefaction of this species, we should wait for 2-3 years to give a chance to populations to recover after Chido before concluding that they have declined and that the species conservation status should be changed to NT. Therefore, I am not favourable to this change, at least for the time being.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 25 April 2025. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 25 April 2025, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
We thank Gerard for their helpful comment on this species. As the current assessment was based on forest loss, and given the species’ higher abundance in brushland and adaptability to man-made environments, inferring an overall, continuing decline in habitat may be too precautionary. The species is therefore considered unlikely to be approaching the thresholds for a threatened category at this time, although further monitoring would be useful in determining the impact the outlined threats are having on the population.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2025 Red List would be to list Chestnut-sided White-eye as Least Concern.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 4 May 2025, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2025 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
I agree with this Preliminary Proposal
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 12 May 2025.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Chestnut-sided White-eye is recommended to be listed as Least Concern.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2025.2 GTB Forum process. The final Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.