The golden greenbul (''Calyptocichla serinus'') 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 found in western and central Africa. It is the only member of the genus ''Calyptocichla''.

Taxonomy and systematics

The golden greenbul was originally described in the genus ''

Criniger ''Criniger'' is a genus of songbirds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. The species of ''Criniger'' are found in western and central Africa. Taxonomy The genus ''Criniger'' was introduced in 1820 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminc ...

''. It is not closely related to any of the other greenbul species, forming a separate

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

from the two main clades which make up the bulbul family Pycnonotidae.Moyle, Robert G. Ben D. Marks (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 (HTML abstract) Alternate names for the golden greenbul include the serene bulbul and serene greenbul.

Description

The golden greenbul is brightly coloured for a greenbul due to its bright yellow belly and white throat; otherwise it is not particularly distinct in

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

, with unmarked olive upperparts, tail and wings. It has a long slender pinkish-brown bill, a feature not shared by other greenbuls.Sinclair, Ian and Peter Ryan (2003) ''Birds of Africa South of the Sahara''

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in forests from Sierra Leone to Ghana; south-eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon to Central African Republic and extreme north-western Angola.

References

golden greenbul The golden greenbul (''Calyptocichla serinus'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds found in western and central Africa. It is the only member of the genus ''Calyptocichla''. Taxonomy and systematics The golden greenbul was orig ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

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