Although not yet recognized as a subspecies of the pale-bellied white-eye, in 2003 a similar bird was discovered near the village of Wanci on Wangi-wangi Island and provisionally named the Wangi-Wangi white-eye (Zosterops sp. nov.).[4][5] This island is its only known home and is part of the Tukangbesi Islands to the southeast of Sulawesi in Indonesia.
The Wangi-Wangi white-eye has a number of differences from the pale-bellied white-eye including larger size, a black body, a long yellow beak, a gray breast and pale feet. Like most white-eyes it has a white ring around the eye and green upperparts.
^van Balen, S (2008). Family Zosteropidae (White-eyes). In: del Hoyo J, Elliot A, Christie DA, editors Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Penduline-tits to Shrikes. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 402–485. ISBN9788496553453.
