The dark-capped bulbul (''Pycnonotus tricolor'') is a member of the
bulbul
The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical As ...
family of
passerine birds. It is found in central, eastern and south-eastern Africa.
Taxonomy and systematics
The dark-capped bulbul was originally described in the genus ''
Ixos
''Ixos'' is a genus of passerine birds in the bulbul family (biology), family, Pycnonotidae.
Taxonomy and systematics
The genus ''Ixos'' was introduced in 1825 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck to accommodate the Javan bulbul. The ...
''. Some authorities treat the dark-capped bulbul as a subspecies of the
common bulbul.
Alternate names include the black-eyed bulbul, brown-capped bulbul, garden bulbul, Kenya Highlands dark-capped bulbul, Ngami dark-capped bulbul, tricoloured bulbul and white-eared geelgat.
Subspecies
Three
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are recognized:
* ''P. t. spurius''
Reichenow
Anton Reichenow (1 August 1847 in Charlottenburg – 6 July 1941 in Hamburg) was a German ornithologist and herpetologist.
Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Natural History Museum of Berlin from 1874 to 1921. He was ...
, 1905 — Originally described as a separate species. Found in southern Ethiopia
* East Coast black-capped bulbul ''P. t. layardi''
Gurney
A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...
, 1879 — Originally described as a separate species. Found from south-eastern Kenya to eastern and southern Zambia, north-eastern Botswana and South Africa
* ''P. t. tricolor''
(Hartlaub
Karel Johan Gustav Hartlaub (8 November 1814 – 29 November 1900) was a German physician and ornithologist.
Hartlaub was born in Bremen, and studied at Bonn and Berlin before graduating in medicine at Göttingen. In 1840, he began to study and ...
, 1862) — Found from eastern Cameroon to Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan, western and central Kenya, Angola, north-western Botswana, and northern and western Zambia
Description
left, 200px, Chick begging from nest
The dark-capped bulbul is mostly greyish brown above and whitish brown below, with a distinctive dark head and pointy crest on top of the head. The back of the head merges into the brown of the back, and the chin is also blackish. The underparts are grey-brown apart from white around the vent (yellow in ''P. t. tricolor''). It is about 18 cm in length, with a long tail. It has a dark brown head and upperparts. Sexes are similar in plumage.
Vocalizations
Dark-capped Bulbul (Pycnonotus tricolor layardi) (022A-WA03044X0003-0013M0).oga, Song recorded in Kurwitu, Kenya
Pycnonotus barbatus, roep, Pretoria, a.ogg,
References
External links
*
*
* Black-eyed Bulbul
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
dark-capped bulbul
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
dark-capped bulbul
{{Pycnonotidae-stub
