The ruby-throated bulbul (''Rubigula dispar''), or yellow bulbul, 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 on

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, and

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The ruby-throated bulbul was originally described in the genus ''

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 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 ruby-throated bulbul, moved to ''Rubigula''. Until 2008, the ruby-throated 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, black-crested, flame-throated and Bornean bulbuls. Some authorities have considered the ruby-throated bulbul to be a subspecies of the black-capped bulbul.

Description

It is virtually crestless, has a deep red throat and reddish eyes.

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 ruby-throated bulbul feeds on fruit and insects.

References

*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 ruby-throated bulbul Birds of Sumatra Birds of Java Birds of Bali ruby-throated bulbul {{pycnonotidae-stub