Woodfordia or Zosterops? This question immediately comes to mind when the Needle-billed White-eye (the “Pin Grinnell” of the islanders) is considered. If never seen in real life, one might come to the conclusion that a specimen of this species is an artifact, consisting of the head of a Zosterops on the body of a Woodfordia - with perhaps even the bill of a Rukia. It is, however, quite a real bird - standard large white-eye size, with an unusually slender, long, straight bill. The head is olive-drab with a yellower throat and standard “white-eye” rings. This contrasts with the fulvous underparts and rufous upperparts. This bigenerality makes the taxonomy of the Needle-billed White-eye a little problematic. It could be a highly derived Zosterops, but the general consensus is that it is the long-awaited third Woodfordia, extending the genus’ range eastward from Rennell and Nendo. Alternatively, it could be of intergeneric hybrid origin. Not many specimens have been collected.
The Needle-billed White-eye’s habits are largely standard white-eye across the board. Its acicular bill, however, reflects an un-white-eye-ly augmentation of its diet. As well as a gleaner and a berryhunter, the Needle-billed White-eye is also an inveterate flowerpiercer. It can easily puncture the bases of flowers for shameless nectar extraction. Disputes between the wasty white-eyes and the nobly corolla-sucking myzomelas seem to be long-standing feuds. Alas, white-eyes frequently get the upper hand merely due to their larger size.
The Needle-billed White-eye’s song is a short, rich warble with a sinister quality. Sometimes a quavering “oo-wee-wee-oo” is given particularly in disputes with myzomelas. Other calls include short “zet” and metallic “zeeer”, chippering “chutter-chucket”, and occasionally a bee-eater-like whine or a ring-modulated scold.
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