The red-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus cafer'') 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
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...
s. It is a resident breeder across 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 ...
, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world and has established itself in New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga and Fiji, as well as parts of Samoa, Australia, USA and Cook Islands. It is included in the
list of the world's 100 worst
invasive alien species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced species, introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, i ...
.
Taxonomy and systematics
In 1760 the French zoologist
Mathurin Jacques Brisson
Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.
Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...
included a description of the red-vented bulbul in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen that he mistakenly believed had been collected from the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
in South Africa. He used the French name ''Le merle hupé du Cap de Bonne Espérance'' and the Latin ''Merula Cristata Capitis Bonae Spei''.
[ The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the
binomial system and are not recognised by the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
.
When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
updated his ''
Systema Naturae
' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...
'' for the
twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.
[ One of these was the red-vented bulbul. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the ]binomial name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Turdus cafer'' and cited Brisson's work. The red-vented bulbul does not occur in Africa. The type location was later changed to Sri Lanka and then in 1952 designated as Pondicherry
Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...
in India by the German naturalist Erwin Stresemann
Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (22 November 1889, in Dresden – 20 November 1972, in East Berlin) was a German naturalist and ornithologist. Stresemann was an ornithologist of extensive breadth who compiled one of the first and most compreh ...
. The specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''cafer'' is New Latin
New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
for South Africa. This species is now placed in the genus ''Pycnonotus'' that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie
Friedrich Boie (4 June 1789 – 3 March 1870) was a German entomologist, herpetologist, ornithologist, and lawyer.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University ...
in 1826.
Two formerly designated races, ''P. c. nigropileus'' in southern Burma and ''P. c. burmanicus'' of northern Burma, are now considered as hybrids.
Subspecies
Eight 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:[
* Central Indian red-vented bulbul (''P. c. humayuni'') - Deignan, 1951: Found in south-eastern Pakistan, north-western and north-central India
* Punjab red-vented bulbul (''P. c. intermedius'') - Blyth, 1846: Originally described as a separate species. Found in Kashmir and ]Kohat
Kohat ( ps, کوهاټ; ur, ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century ...
down to the Salt Range
The Salt Range ( pnb, ) is a mountain range in the north of Punjab province of Pakistan, deriving its name from its extensive deposits of rock salt. The range extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River. The ...
and along the western Himalayas to Kumaon.
* ''P. c. bengalensis'' - Blyth, 1845: Originally described as a separate species. Found in the central and eastern Himalayas from Nepal to Assam, north-eastern India and Bangladesh
* ''P. c. stanfordi'' - Deignan, 1949: Found in northern Burma and south-western China
* ''P. c. melanchimus'' - Deignan, 1949: Found in south-central Burma and northern Thailand
* ''P. c. wetmorei'' - Deignan, 1960: Found in eastern India
** ''P. c. saturatus'' - (Whistler & Kinnear, 1932): Originally described as a separate species ''Stelgidocichla latirostris saturata'' (Mearns 1914). Found in north-eastern India
* ''P. c. cafer'' - (Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, 1766): Found in southern India
* ''P. c. haemorrhousus'' - ( Gmelin, JF, 1789): Found in Sri Lanka
Red-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer humayuni).jpg, ''P. c. humayuni''
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
, India
PycnonotusMagrathiKeulemans.jpg, ''P. leucogenys'' x ''P. c. humayuni'' hybrid (''magrathi'')
Red vented Bulbul I IMG 6303.jpg, Underside of ''P. c. bengalensis''
Red-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer haemorrhousus) vent.jpg, ''P. c. haemorrhousus'' showing vent, Sri Lanka.
Description
The red-vented bulbul is easily identified by its short crest giving the head a squarish appearance. The body is dark brown with a scaly pattern while the head is darker or black. The rump is white while the vent is red. It is about 20 cm in length, with a long black tail, tipped in white. The Himalayan races have a more prominent crest and are more streaked on the underside. The race ''intermedius'' of the Western Himalayas has a black hood extending to the mid-breast. The population ''bengalensis'' of the Central and Eastern Himalayas and the Gangetic plain has a dark hood, lacks the scale-like pattern on the underside and instead has dark streaks on the paler lower belly. Race ''stanfordi'' of the South Assam hills is similar to ''intermedius''. The desert race ''humayuni'' has a paler brown mantle. The nominate race ''cafer'' is found in Peninsular India. The Northeast Indian race ''wetmorei'' is between ''cafer'', ''humayuni'' and ''bengalensis''. The Sri Lankan race ''haemorrhous'' (=''haemorrhousus''[) has a dark mantle with narrow pale edges. Race ''humayuni'' is known to hybridize with '']Pycnonotus leucogenys
The Himalayan bulbul (''Pycnonotus leucogenys''), or white-cheeked bulbul, is a species of songbird in the bulbul family found in Central and South Asia.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Himalayan bulbul is considered to belong to a superspecies ...
'' and these hybrids were once described as a subspecies ''magrathi'' marked by their pale rumps and yellow-orange or pink vents. In eastern Myanmar there is some natural hybridization with ''Pycnonotus aurigaster
The sooty-headed bulbul (''Pycnonotus aurigaster'') is a species of songbird in the Bulbul family, Pycnonotidae.
It is found in south-eastern Asia.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Description
A medium-sized ...
''.
Sexes are similar in plumage, but young birds are duller than adults.[ The typical call has been transcribed as ''ginger beer'', but a number of sharp single note calls sounding like ''pick'' are also produced. Their alarm calls are usually responded to and heeded by many other species of bird.][
Melanistic as well as ]leucistic
Leucism () is a wide variety of conditions that result in the partial loss of pigmentation in an animal—causing white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticles, but not the eyes. It is occasionally spelled ' ...
individuals have been noted. An individual with aberrant colour form was observed in Bhavans College Campus, Andheri, Mumbai.
Distribution and habitat
This is a bird of dry scrub, open forest, plains and cultivated lands.[ In its native range it is rarely found in mature forests. A study based on 54 localities in India concluded that vegetation is the single most important factor that determines the distribution of the species.
Red-vented bulbuls were introduced into Fiji in 1903 by indentured labourers from India, becoming widespread. They were introduced to Tonga in 1943 and became common on Samoa by 1957. They became established on the Tongan islands of Tongatapu and Niuafo'ou. They were introduced into Melbourne around 1917 but were not seen after 1942. They established in Auckland in the 1950s but were exterminated and another wild population was detected and exterminated in 2006. In 2013 more were found, and authorities offered a $1000 reward for information that led to a bird's capture. They prefer dry lowland habitat in these regions. They were first observed breeding on the Canary Islands in 2018. They are considered as pests because of their habit of damaging fruit crops. Methiocarb and ziram have been used to protect cultivated ''Dendrobium'' orchids in Hawaii from damage by these birds; however, they learn to avoid the repellent chemicals. They can also disperse the seeds of invasive plants like '']Lantana camara
''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...
''[ and '']Miconia calvescens
''Miconia calvescens'', the velvet tree, miconia, or bush currant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to Mexico and Central and South America and it has become one of the world's most invasive species.
M ...
''.
''P. cafer'' is invasive in New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
. Thibault et al. (2018) finds this species to be pushing out native species but not other introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
.[ . .]
Behaviour and ecology
Red-vented bulbuls feed on fruits, petals of flowers, nectar, insects and occasionally house geckos ( Hemidactylus flaviviridis). They have also been seen feeding on the leaves of ''Medicago sativa
Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as we ...
''.
Red-vented bulbuls build their nests in bushes at a height of around . Nests are occasionally built inside houses or in a hole in a mud bank. In one instance, a nest was found on a floating mat of Water hyacinth
''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive outside its native range.[pied crested cuckoo
The Jacobin cuckoo (''Clamator jacobinus''), also pied cuckoo or pied crested cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that is found in Africa and Asia. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the mons ...]
is a brood parasite
Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own ...
of this species. Fires, heavy rains and predators are the main causes of fledgling mortality in scrub habitats in southern India.
Their vocalizations are usually stereotyped and they call throughout the year. However, a number of distinct call types have been identified including roosting, begging, greeting, flight and two kinds of alarm calls.
They are important dispersers of seeds of plants such as ''Carissa spinarum
''Carissa spinarum'', the conkerberry or bush plum, is a large shrub of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), widely distributed in tropical regions of Africa, Southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Indian Ocean. It is most well known ...
''.
The red-vented bulbul was among the first animals other than humans that was found to be incapable of synthesizing vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...
. However, a large number of other birds were later found to likewise lack the ability to synthesize vitamin C.
Like most birds, these bulbuls are hosts to coccidia
Coccidia (Coccidiasina) are a subclass of microscopic, spore-forming, single-celled obligate intracellular parasites belonging to the apicomplexan class Conoidasida.
As obligate intracellular parasites, they must live and reproduce within an a ...
n blood parasites (''Isospora
''Isospora'' is a genus of internal parasites in the subclass Coccidia.
It is responsible for the condition isosporiasis, which causes acute, non-bloody diarrhoea in immunocompromised individuals.
Taxonomy
At least 248 species were originally ...
'' sp.) while some bird lice
A bird louse is any chewing louse (small, biting insects) of order Phthiraptera which parasitizes warm-blooded animals, especially birds. Bird lice may feed on feathers, skin, or blood. They have no wings, and their biting mouth parts distingui ...
such as ''Menacanthus guldum'' (Ansari 1951 Proc. Natl. Inst. Sci. India 17:40) have been described as ectoparasites.
Along with red-whiskered bulbul
The red-whiskered bulbul (''Pycnonotus jocosus''), or crested bulbul, is a passerine bird native to Asia. It is a member of the bulbul family. It is a resident frugivore found mainly in tropical Asia. It has been introduced in many tropical are ...
s this species has led to changes in the population dynamics of butterfly morphs on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Here the population of white morphs of the ''Danaus plexippus
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It ...
'' butterfly has risen over a period of 20 years due to predation of the orange morphs by these bulbuls.
In culture
In 19th-century India these birds were frequently kept as cage pets and for fighting especially in the Carnatic region
The Carnatic region is the peninsular South Indian region between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, in the erstwhile Madras Presidency and in the modern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh. During the British er ...
. They would be held on the finger with a thread attached and when they fought they would seize the red feathers of the opponents.[
In the state of ]Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, India, (the Bulbul (বুলবুলী) bird as it is known in Assamese), the male birds were held captive for a few days and were engaged in fights as a spectator sport in the Bihu festival during the Ahom rule. This practice was banned in January 2016.
References
Further reading
* Bellary, Sadananda A; Desai,RN (2000) Unusual nesting activity of the Red-vented Bulbul ''Pycnonotus cafer'': two peculiar features. ''Newsletter for Birdwatchers
''Newsletter for Birdwatchers'' is an Indian periodical of ornithology and birdwatching founded in 1960 by Zafar Futehally, who edited it until 2003. It was initially mimeographed and distributed to a small number of subscribers each month. It is ...
'' 40(6):83–84.
*
* Chowdhury, SR; Bhattacharyya, SP (1989) Circannual variation in the alveolar histodynamics and secretory activity of the uropygial gland of the male Redvented Bulbul ''Pycnonotus cafer'' (Linnaeus). Pavo 27(1&2), 5–14.
* Dasgupta, P; Bhattacharyya, SP (1988) Circannual changes in the testicular activity of the Red-vented Bulbul ''Pycnonotus cafer'' (Linnaeus). Pavo 26(1&2):37–48.
* Deignan,HG (1949) Races of ''Pycnonotus cafer'' (Linnaeus) and ''P. aurigaster'' (Vieillot) in the Indo-Chinese subregion. J. Washington Acad. Sci. 39(8):273–279.
*
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*
* Vijayan, VS. (1975) Ecological isolation of bulbuls (Family Pycnonotidae, Class Aves) with special reference to ''Pycnonotus cafer cafer'' (Linn.) and ''Pycnonotus luteolus luteolus'' (Lesson) at Point Calimere, Tamil Nadu. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Bombay, Bombay.
*
*
External links
Red-vented bulbul videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection
Invasive species database
New Zealand alert
{{Taxonbar, from=Q509455
red-vented bulbul
The red-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus cafer'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerines. It is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. It has been introduc ...
Birds of South Asia
Birds of Myanmar
Birds of Fiji
Birds of Tonga
Birds of Samoa
Red-vented bulbul
The red-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus cafer'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerines. It is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. It has been introduc ...
Red-vented bulbul
The red-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus cafer'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerines. It is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. It has been introduc ...