The black-crested bulbul (''Rubigula flaviventris'') 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 ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s. 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 ...

to southeast Asia.

Taxonomy and systematics

The black-crested bulbul was originally described in the genus ''

Vanga The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family o ...

'' and later moved to genus ''

Pycnonotus ''Pycnonotus'' is a genus of frugivorous passerine birds in the bulbul family Pycnonotidae. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Pycnonotus'' was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826 with the Cape bulbul as the type specie ...

''. ''Pycnonotus'' was found to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

in recent molecular phylogenetic studies and five

species, including the black-crested bulbul, moved to ''Rubigula''. Until 2008, the black-crested bulbul was considered as

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

with the black-capped, ruby-throated, flame-throated and

Bornean bulbul The Bornean bulbul (''Rubigula montis'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is endemic to the island of Borneo. Taxonomy and systematics The Bornean bulbul was previously placed in genus ''Pycnonotus''. This genus was foun ...

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: * Black-crested yellow bulbul (''P. f. flaviventris'') - ( Tickell, 1833): Found from Nepal, northern and eastern India (including Pachmarhi in central India) to southern China and central Myanmar * ''P. f. vantynei'' - Deignan, 1948: Found from eastern and southern Myanmar to southern China and northern

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 ...

* ''P. f. xanthops'' - Deignan, 1948: Found in south-eastern Myanmar and western Thailand * ''P. f. auratus'' - Deignan, 1948: Found in north-eastern Thailand and western Laos * ''P. f. johnsoni'' - ( Gyldenstolpe, 1913): Originally described as a separate species. Found in central and eastern Thailand, southern Indochina * ''P. f. elbeli'' - Deignan, 1954: Found on islands off eastern coast of Thailand * ''P. f. negatus'' - Deignan, 1954: Found in southern Myanmar and south-western Thailand * ''P. f. caecilii'' - Deignan, 1948: Found on the northern

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 ...

Description

The black-crested bulbul is generally about 19 cm in length. As the name suggests, the head of this bulbul is black while the rest of its body is different shades of yellow. Both the male and female are similar in plumage. One can make out a younger bird by its slightly duller coloring.

Distribution and habitat

This is a bird of forest and dense scrub.

Behaviour and ecology

It builds its nest in a bush; two to four eggs are a typical clutch. The black-crested bulbul feeds on fruit and insects.

References

* ''Birds of India'' by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, * Rasmussen, P.C., and J.C. Anderton (2005). ''Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volume 2: Attributes and Status.'' Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions, Washington D.C. and Barcelona. {{Taxonbar, from=Q82992039, from2=Q775679

black-crested bulbul The black-crested bulbul (''Rubigula flaviventris'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found from the Indian subcontinent to southeast Asia. Taxonomy and systematics The black-crested bulbul was originally described in ...

Birds of East India Birds of Nepal Birds of Eastern Himalaya Birds of South China Birds of North India Birds of Yunnan Birds of Southeast Asia