The Philippine bulbul (''Hypsipetes philippinus'') 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 5000 ...

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

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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Philippines. 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 ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

; on

Mount Kitanglad Mount Kitanglad is an inactive volcano located in the Kitanglad Mountain Range in Bukidnon province on Mindanao island. It is the fourth highest mountain in the Philippines and has an approximate height of . It is located between Malaybalay City ...

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

, for example, it is abundant in any kind of

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

at least between 500 and 2,250 m

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 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Philippine bulbul was originally described in 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 ...

Turdus True thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus ''Turdus'' of the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for "thrush". The term "thrush" is used for many other birds of the family T ...

'' and later placed in the genus ''

Ixos ''Ixos'' is a genus of passerine birds in the bulbul 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 genus name is ...

''. In 2010, it was re-classified to the genus ''Hypsipetes'' as it is very closely related 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 that genus, the

black bulbul The black bulbul (''Hypsipetes leucocephalus''), also known as the Himalayan black bulbul or Asian black bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found primarily in the Himalayas, its range stretching from India eastwar ...

. Until 2010, the Mindoro bulbul,

Visayan bulbul The Visayan bulbul (''Hypsipetes guimarasensis'') or Steere's bulbul, is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the western Visayas in the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowla ...

and

Zamboanga bulbul The Zamboanga bulbul (''Hypsipetes rufigularis'') is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the Philippines, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests of Basilan and the Zamboanga ...

were all considered as subspecies of the Philippine bulbul.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are currently recognized: * ''H. p. parkesi'' - du Pont, 1980: Found on Burias * ''H. p. philippinus'' - ( Forster, 1795): Found in northern Philippines * ''H. p. saturatior'' - (

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 ...

, 1916): Found in eastern-central and southern Philippines

Behaviour and ecology

Fledglings of the Philippine bulbul were recorded on Mindanao in late April, but the breeding season seems to be prolonged as females with ripe

ovarian follicle An ovarian follicle is a roughly spheroid cellular aggregation set found in the ovaries. It secretes hormones that influence stages of the menstrual cycle. At the time of puberty, women have approximately 200,000 to 300,000 follicles, each with th ...

s were still found in April and May. Territorial songs are heard at lower altitudes as late as May, while further upslope the birds are silent at that time of year and presumably engaged in breeding activity. The

besra The besra (''Accipiter virgatus''), also called the besra sparrowhawk, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. The besra is a widespread resident breeder in dense forests throughout southern Asia, ranging from the Indian subcontinent ea ...

has been recorded as a

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

of young Philippine bulbuls, and this or other

goshawk Goshawk may refer to several species of birds of prey, mainly in the genus ''Accipiter'': * Northern goshawk, ''Accipiter gentilis'', often referred to simply as the goshawk, since it is the only goshawk found in much of its range (in Europe and N ...

s might also catch adult birds. A common and adaptable bird as long as sufficient forest remains, it 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 ...

.BLI (2008)

Footnotes

References

* 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
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* Moyle, Robert G. & Marks, Ben D. (2006): Phylogenetic relationships of the bulbuls (Aves: Pycnonotidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 40(3): 687–695. (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
* Peterson, A. Townsend; Brooks, Thomas; Gamauf, Anita; Gonzalez, Juan Carlos T.; Mallari, Neil Aldrin D.; Dutson, Guy; Bush, Sarah E. & Fernandez, Renato (2008): The Avifauna of Mt. Kitanglad, Bukidnon Province, Mindanao, Philippines. '' Fieldiana Zool. New Series'' 114: 1-43. DOI:10.3158/0015-0754(2008)114 :TAOMKB.0.CO;2PDF fulltext

Philippine bulbul The Philippine bulbul (''Hypsipetes philippinus'') is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mo ...

Endemic birds of the Philippines

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pycnonotidae-stub