Oriental Mountain White-eye (Zosterops montanus) - HBW 13, p. 450

Taxonomy: Z[osterops] montana Bonaparte, 1850, Mount Merapi, west Sumatra.
Montane sibling of Z. palpebrosus. Despite enormous number of proposed names and the isolation of many populations, hardly any constant geographical variation exists; some authors prefer to recognize only two races (nominate and obstinatus) in Wallacea, and some even include most or all of Sumatran, Javan and Philippine races in nominate. Race pectoralis seems to represent a population in transition from pale-bellied to yellow-bellied, but sufficiently homogeneous to justify own name. Birds of this species recorded on Panay (WC Philippines) may represent an as yet unnamed race; some differentiation exists among the various populations of nominate; further study required. Birds of this species in Sula Archipelago of uncertain racial identity, provisionally included in nominate. Birds from Marinduque (NC Philippines) described as race gilli and formerly placed with present species, but now regarded as synonym of nominate race of Z. meyeni. Otherwise, proposed Moluccan races seranensis (described from Mt Pinaia, on Seram) and ternatanus (Ternate) both synonymized with obstinatus; sarasinorum (Mt Klabat, in NE Sulawesi), oriochares (Latimojong Mts, in SC Sulawesi), origenes (Wawa Karaeng, in S Sulawesi), foghaensis (Mt Madang, on Buru), korinchi (Mt Kerinci, in Sumatra), sindorensis (Mt Tjerima, in W Java), minimus (Mt Papandayan, in W Java), neglectus (near Tosari, in E Java), florensis (Geli Mutu, on Flores) and steini (Mt Ramelan, in E Timor) all subsumed in nominate; and, in Philippines, finitimus (Mt Cuernos de Negros, in S Negros) merged with pectoralis. Nine subspecies currently recognized.