The mountain bulbul (''Ixos mcclellandii'') is a

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in 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 Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, Pycnonotidae. It is often placed in ''

Hypsipetes __NOTOC__ ''Hypsipetes'' is a genus of bulbuls, songbirds in the family Pycnonotidae. Most of its species occur in tropical forests around the Indian Ocean. But while the genus is quite diverse in the Madagascar region at the western end of its ...

'', but seems to be closer to the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

'', the Sunda bulbul.Gregory, Steven M. (2000): Nomenclature of the Hypsipetes Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae). ''

Forktail The forktails are small insectivorous birds in the genus ''Enicurus''. They were formerly in the thrush family, Turdidae, but are more often now treated as part of the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Their name derives from their lo ...

'' 16: 164-166
PDF fulltext
It is found in Southeast Asia and is not considered a

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. It is named after British East India Company Surgeon John McClelland.

Taxonomy and systematics

The mountain bulbul was originally described in the genus ''

'' in 1840 by

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and natural history, naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the Eas ...

. Alternate names for the mountain bulbul include the green-winged bulbul, McClelland's bulbul, McClelland's rufous-bellied bulbul, mountain streaked bulbul, and rufous-bellied bulbul. The common name, 'mountain bulbul', is also used as an alternate name for the Cameroon greenbul.

Subspecies

Nine subspecies are currently recognized: * ''I. m. mcclellandii'' - ( Horsfield, 1840): Found from the eastern Himalayas to north-western Myanmar * ''I. m. ventralis'' - Stresemann &

Heinrich Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

, 1940: Found in south-western Myanmar * ''I. m. tickelli'' - ( Blyth, 1855): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''Hypsipetes''. Found in eastern Myanmar and north-western Thailand * ''I. m. similis'' - (

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by sign ...

, 1921): Found from north-eastern Myanmar to southern China and northern Indochina * ''I. m. holtii'' - ( R. Swinhoe, 1861): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''Hypsipetes''. Found in south-eastern China * ''I. m. loquax''- Deignan, 1940: Found in north-central and north-eastern Thailand, southern Laos * ''I. m. griseiventer''- (

Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...

& Kloss, 1919): Found in southern Vietnam * ''I. m. canescens''- Riley, 1933: Originally described as a separate species. Found in eastern Thailand and south-western Cambodia * ''I. m. peracensis''- (

Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in Hamburg, Germany on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married the illustrator Claudia Bernadine E ...

& Butler, AL, 1898): Found on the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

Distribution and habitat

It is found from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

and southern China through

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

to the Malay Peninsula. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is broadleaved evergreen

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s between 800m and 2590m

ASL American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

Gallery

File:Mountain Bulbul - Thailand S4E8708 (16431852453).jpg, Mountain bulbul in Thailand File:Mountain Bulbul Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary East Sikkim Sikkim India 12.12.2015.jpg, A flock from

Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary (Pron: pǽngólɑ́kha, Nepali: पाङ्लखा) is a wildlife reserve in the Pakyong District of the state of Sikkim in India. It is about east of Rorathang and about by road from Rangpo city. The total no ...

East Sikkim Gangtok District, formerly the East Sikkim district, is an administrative district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Sikkim. It was renamed in 2021 as a result of administrative reorganisation of the state, which also saw ...

, India

References

mountain bulbul mountain bulbul Birds of the Himalayas Birds of China Birds of Southeast Asia mountain bulbul Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pycnonotidae-stub