bulbul

 

(bʊl'bʊl) , bird, common name for members of the family Pycnonotidae, comprising 119 species of medium-sized, dull-colored passerine birds with short necks and wings, native to Africa and S Asia. Bulbuls are famed as songsters and are popular as cage birds in the Middle East; frequently mentioned in Persian poetry, the word bulbul is often mistranslated “nightingale.” Bulbuls range in size from 6 in. (15 cm) to about 12 in. (30.5 cm). They inhabit grasslands and shrubby countrysides, from sea level to 10,000 ft (3,050 m) in the Himalayas. A common Asian species, the red-whiskered bulbul, Pycnonotus jocosus, is easily tamed and is popular as a cage bird. Bulbuls feed mainly on fruits and berries and sometimes do crop damage. They build cleverly concealed cup-shaped grass nests, in which the female lays from three to five eggs per clutch. Both parents brood the nestlings. Bulbuls are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Pycnonotidae.

Bulbuls
Brown-eared Bulbul, Microscelis amaurotis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Pycnonotidae
Genera
See text.

Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) are a family of medium-sized passerine songbirds resident in Africa and tropical Asia. There are about 130 species.

These are mostly frugivorous birds. Some are colorful with yellow, red or orange vents, cheeks, throat or supercilia, but most are drab, with uniform olive brown to black plumage. Some have very distinct crests.

Many of these species inhabit tree tops, while some are restricted to the undergrowth. Up to five purple-pink eggs are laid in an open tree nests and incubated by the female.

The Red-whiskered Bulbul, Pycnonotus jocosus, has been widely introduced to tropical and subtropical areas, for example southern Florida, USA.

Etymology

The word bulbul may derive from Persian (بلبل), or from Turkish (bülbül), meaning nightingale.^{[citation needed]}

Systematics

The traditional layout was to divide the bulbuls into 4 groups, named Pycnonotus, Phyllastrephus, Criniger, and Chlorocichla groups after characteristic genera (Delacour, 1943). However, more recent analyses demonstrated that this arrangement was probably based on erroneous interpretation of characters:

Comparison of mtDNA cytochrome b sequences found that five species of Phyllastrephus did not belong to the bulbuls, but to an enigmatic group of songbirds from Madagascar instead (Cibois et al., 2001; see below for the species in question). Similarly, sequence analysis of the nDNA RAG1 and RAG2 genes suggests that the genus Nicator is not a bulbul either (Beresford et al., 2005). That the previous arrangement had failed to take into account biogeography was indicated by the study of Pasquet et al. (2001) who demonstrated the genus Criniger must be divided into an African and an Asian (Alophoixus) lineage. Using analysis of one nDNA and 2 mtDNA sequences, Moyle & Marks (2006) found one largely Asian lineage and one African group of greenbuls and bristlebills; the Golden Greenbul seemes to be very distinct and form a group of its own. Some taxa are not monophyletic, and more research is necessary to determine relationships within the larger genera.

Systematic list

Basal

• Genus Calyptocichla
  • Golden Greenbul, Calyptocichla serina

Typical bulbuls

• Genus Pycnonotus (paraphyletic)
  • "Ancient" Asian bulbuls
  • Black-headed Bulbul, Pycnonotus atriceps
  • Stripe-throated Bulbul, Pycnonotus finlaysoni
  • Red-whiskered Bulbul, Pycnonotus jocosus
  • Brown-breasted Bulbul, Pycnonotus xanthorrhous
  • Puff-backed Bulbul, Pycnonotus eutilotus
  • Black-and-white Bulbul, Pycnonotus melanoleucus
  • Pycnonotus proper
  • Black-crested Bulbul, Pycnonotus melanicterus
  • Grey-bellied Bulbul, Pycnonotus cyaniventris
  • Spectacled Bulbul, Pycnonotus erythropthalmos
  • Straw-headed Bulbul, Pycnonotus zeylanicus
  • Red-eyed Bulbul, Pycnonotus brunneus
  • Olive-winged Bulbul, Pycnonotus plumosus
  • Yellow-vented Bulbul, Pycnonotus goiavier
  • Black-fronted Bulbul, Pycnonotus nigricans
  • White-cheeked Bulbul, Pycnonotus leucogenys
  • Disputed
  • Common Bulbul, Pycnonotus barbatus
  • Unassigned
  • Striated Bulbul, Pycnonotus striatus
  • Cream-striped Bulbul, Pycnonotus leucogrammicus
  • Spot-necked Bulbul, Pycnonotus tympanistrigus
  • Grey-headed Bulbul, Pycnonotus priocephalus
  • Styan's Bulbul, Pycnonotus taivanus
  • Scaly-breasted Bulbul, Pycnonotus squamatus
  • Light-vented Bulbul, Pycnonotus sinensis
  • Cape Bulbul, Pycnonotus capensis (type species)
  • White-spectacled Bulbul, Pycnonotus xanthopygos
  • White-eared Bulbul, Pycnonotus leucotis
  • Red-vented Bulbul, Pycnonotus cafer
  • Sooty-headed Bulbul, Pycnonotus aurigaster
  • Blue-wattled Bulbul, Pycnonotus nieuwenhuisii (disputed)
  • Yellow-wattled Bulbul, Pycnonotus urostictus
  • Orange-spotted Bulbul, Pycnonotus bimaculatus
  • Yellow-throated Bulbul, Pycnonotus xantholaemus
  • Yellow-eared Bulbul, Pycnonotus penicillatus
  • Flavescent Bulbul, Pycnonotus flavescens
  • White-browed Bulbul, Pycnonotus luteolus
  • Streak-eared Bulbul, Pycnonotus blanfordi
  • Cream-vented Bulbul, Pycnonotus simplex

• Genus Spizixos
  • Crested Finchbill, Spizixos canifrons
  • Collared Finchbill, Spizixos semitorques

• Genus Tricholestes
  • Hairy-backed Bulbul, Tricholestes criniger

• Genus Setornis
  • Hook-billed Bulbul, Setornis criniger

• Genus Alophoixus - formerly included in Criniger, possibly polyphyletic
  • Finsch's Bulbul, Alophoixus finschii
  • White-throated Bulbul, Alophoixus flaveolus
  • Puff-throated Bulbul, Alophoixus pallidus
  • Ochraceous Bulbul, Alophoixus ochraceus
  • Gray-cheeked Bulbul, Alophoixus bres
  • Yellow-bellied Bulbul, Alophoixus phaeocephalus
  • Golden Bulbul, Alophoixus affinis

• Genus Iole
  • Olive Bulbul, Iole virescens
  • Grey-eyed Bulbul, Iole propinqua
  • Buff-vented Bulbul, Iole olivacea
  • Yellow-browed Bulbul, Iole indica

• Genus Hemixos
  • Ashy Bulbul, Hemixos flavala
  • Chestnut Bulbul, Hemixos castanonotus

• Genus Ixos (paraphyletic)
  • Close to Hemixos
  • Streaked Bulbul, Ixos malaccensis
  • Unassigned
  • Sulphur-bellied Bulbul, Ixos palawanensis - Hypsipetes?
  • Streak-breasted Bulbul, Ixos siquijorensis - Hypsipetes?
  • Yellowish Bulbul, Ixos everetti
  • Zamboanga Bulbul, Ixos rufigularis
  • Mountain Bulbul, Ixos mcclellandii
  • Sunda Bulbul, Ixos virescens

• Genus Microscelis
  • Brown-eared Bulbul, Microscelis amaurotis (sometimes included in Ixos)

• Genus Hypsipetes
  • Philippine Bulbul, Hypsipetes philippinus - formerly in Ixos
  • Madagascar Bulbul, Hypsipetes madagascariensis
  • Black Bulbul, Hypsipetes leucocephalus
  • Seychelles Bulbul, Hypsipetes crassirostris
  • Comoro Bulbul, Hypsipetes parvirostris
  • Reunion Bulbul, Hypsipetes borbonicus
  • Mauritius Bulbul, Hypsipetes olivaceus
  • Nicobar Bulbul, Hypsipetes virescens
  • White-headed Bulbul, Hypsipetes thompsoni

Typical greenbuls and allies

• Genus Phyllastrephus (19 species)
• Genus Andropadus (12 species; possibly polyphyletic)
• Genus Criniger (5 species)
• Genus Thescelocichla - Swamp Greenbul
• Genus Chlorocichla (6 species)
• Genus Ixonotus - Spotted Greenbul (tentatively placed here)
• Genus Baeopogon (2 species)
• Genus Bleda - bristlebills (3 species)

Incertae sedis

• Genus Neolestes
  • Black-collared Bulbul, Neolestes torquatus

This might be allied to Calyptocichla or not be a bulbul at all.

Recently split from Pycnonotidae

Now in Malagasy warblers

• Genus Bernieria - formerly in Phyllastrephus
  • Long-billed Greenbul, Bernieria madagascariensis

• Genus Xanthomixis - formerly in Phyllastrephus; possibly polyphyletic
  • Spectacled Greenbul, Xanthomixis zosterops
  • Appert's Greenbul, Xanthomixis apperti
  • Dusky Greenbul, Xanthomixis tenebrosus
  • Gray-crowned Greenbul, Xanthomixis cinereiceps

Incertae sedis

• Genus Nicator
  • Yellow-spotted Nicator, Nicator chloris
  • Eastern Nicator, Nicator gularis
  • Yellow-throated Nicator, Nicator vireo

References

• Beresford, P.; Barker, F.K.; Ryan, P.G. & Crowe, T.M. (2005): African endemics span the tree of songbirds (Passeri): molecular systematics of several evolutionary 'enigmas'. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 272(1565): 849–858. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2997 PDF fulltext Electronic appendix

• Cibois, Alice; Slikas, Beth; Schulenberg, Thomas S. & Pasquet, Eric (2001): An endemic radiation of Malagasy songbirds is revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Evolution 55(6): 1198-1206. DOI:10.1554/0014-3820(2001)055[1198:AEROMS]2.0.CO;2 PDF fulltext

• Delacour, J. (1943): A revision of the genera and species of the family Pycnonotidae (bulbuls). Zoologica 28(1): 17-28.

• Moyle, Robert G. & Marks, Ben D. (2006): Phylogenetic relationships of the bulbuls (Aves: Pycnonotidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40(3): Pages 687-695. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.04.015 (HTML abstract)

• Pasquet, Éric; Han, Lian-Xian; Khobkhet, Obhas & Cibois, Alice (2001): Towards a molecular systematics of the genus Criniger, and a preliminary phylogeny of the bulbuls (Aves, Passeriformes, Pycnonotidae). Zoosystema 23(4): 857-863. PDF fulltext

External links

• Bulbul at Ooty
• Bulbul videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• BulBul Forum

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