The Réunion bulbul (''Hypsipetes borbonicus'') is a species 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 ...

birds. It is endemic to

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Réunion 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 ...

''. Formerly, some authorities also considered the

Mauritius bulbul The Mauritius bulbul (''Hypsipetes olivaceus''), is a songbird belonging to the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to Mauritius. Taxonomy and systematics The Mauritius bulbul was the type species of the obsolete genus ''Ixocincla'', whic ...

to be a

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 ...

of the Réunion bulbul.Staub (1976), Gregory (2000), BLI (2008) Alternate names for the Réunion bulbul include the Bourbon thrush, olivaceous bulbul, Réunion black bulbul and Réunion merle.

Description

The appearance of the Réunion bulbul is similar to that of the

but is slightly smaller with a length of 22 cm. It is ashy gray with a blackish crest and the iris is conspicuously white. The bill and feet have an orange hue.Staub (1976)

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

The female lays two eggs in a cup-shaped nest during the southern summer.

Food and feeding

The Réunion bulbul is primarily . In February and March, it moves from areas of higher elevation, where it inhabits

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depen ...

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

s, to lower valleys to feed on ripe

guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...

s. Nectar, insects and small lizards enrich its range of food.

Threats

Although assessed as a species

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

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 ...

, the Réunion bulbul is no longer a common bird, mainly due to

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

and competition from the introduced

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 ...

. In the earlier days of the settlement of Réunion it was hunted for food on a large scale, and was considered as tasty as the

ortolan bunting The ortolan (''Emberiza hortulana''), also called ortolan bunting, is a Eurasian bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a passerine family now separated by most modern scholars from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is fro ...

(''Emberiza hortulana''). As late as the 1970s it was hunted excessively. It is also kept as a pet.

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 lon ...

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* Staub, France (1976), ''Birds of the Mascarenes and Saint Brandon'', Labama House, Port Louis, Mauritius. Hypsipetes Birds of Réunion Birds described in 1781 {{Pycnonotidae-stub