Shelley's greenbul (''Arizelocichla masukuensis'') or Shelley's bulbul, 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 ...

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 in east-central Africa. 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 dry

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s 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 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Shelley's greenbul was originally described in the genus '' Andropadus'' and re-classified in the new genus ''Arizelocichla'' in 2010. Alternatively, some authorities classify Shelley's greenbul in the 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 ...

''. Also, some authorities consider the Kakamega greenbul to be a subspecies of Shelley's greenbul. The common name, 'Shelley's greenbul', is also used as an alternate name for the

placid greenbul The placid greenbul (''Phyllastrephus placidus'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in eastern Africa from eastern Kenya through Tanzania to north-eastern Zambia, Malawi and north-western Mozambique. In the ...

Subspecies

Two

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: * Wilhelmstal mountain greenbul (''A. m. roehli'') - (

Reichenow Anton Reichenow (1 August 1847 in Charlottenburg – 6 July 1941 in Hamburg) was a German ornithologist and herpetologist. Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Natural History Museum of Berlin from 1874 to 1921. He was ...

, 1905): Also named the Masuku mountain greenbul. Found in north-eastern, central and southern Tanzania * Nandi mountain greenbul (''A. m. masukuensis'') - ( Shelley, 1897): Found in south-western Tanzania and northern Malawi

References

External links

Image at ADW

Shelley's greenbul Shelley's greenbul (''Arizelocichla masukuensis'') or Shelley's bulbul, is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in east-central Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tr ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Birds of East Africa

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pycnonotidae-stub