The streak-breasted bulbul (''Hypsipetes siquijorensis'') is a

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the bulbul

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

, Pycnonotidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

being found in the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, ...

on the islands of

Tablas Island Tablas is the largest of the islands that comprise the province of Romblon in the Philippines. The name of the island was of Spanish origin. Before the colonization of the Philippines, Tablas was known as the Island of ''Osigan''. At the time of ...

Siquijor Siquijor ( , ), officially the Province of Siquijor ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Siquijor; tl, Lalawigan ng Siquijor), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the municipality also named Siquijor ...

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

and

Romblon Romblon ( , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main islands include Tablas, the largest, which covers nine municipalities; Sibuyan with its three towns; as w ...

where 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 ...

tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...

and tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and hunting.

Description and taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project ...

describes the bird as "A medium-sized bird of foothill forest and edge as well as more open wooded areas. Fairly large for a bulbul. Dark brown above with a pale belly and a warm brown chest and throat with pale streaking. Note brown cheek and black crown that can be raised into a spiky crest. Similar to Philippine Bulbul, but larger, with a longer bill, a black crown, and a paler throat and chest. Voice consists of rather unpleasant grating chatters and harsh downslurred squeals." However, this description mostly refers to the ''siquijorensis'' sub-species (potentially a split). The other two sub-species have much lighter colored appearances and no spiky crown. The streak-breasted bulbul was originally described in the genus ''Iole'' and later placed in the genus ''

Ixos ''Ixos'' is a genus of passerine birds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Ixos'' was introduced in 1825 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck to accommodate the Javan bulbul. The genus name is ...

'' before being re-classified to the genus ''Hypsipetes in 2010''. Alternate names for the streak-breasted bulbul include the mottle-breasted bulbul and slaty-crowned bulbul.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are currently recognized: It has been proposed that each should be elevated to the full species level with each having different calls and considerable differences in appearances. * Romblon bulbul (''H. s. cinereiceps)'' - ( Bourns &

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, 1894): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''

Iole In Greek mythology, Iole (; grc, Ἰόλη ) was the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia. According to the brief epitome in the '' Bibliotheca'', Eurytus had a beautiful young daughter named Iole who was eligible for marriage. Iole was claimed ...

.'' Found on Tablas and

. Gray spiky crown and overall appearance with a large bill. * Cebu bulbul (''H. s. monticola)'' - (Bourns & Worcester, 1894): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''Iole.'' Alternatively named the Cebu slaty-crowned bulbul. Found on

. White throat and overall paler appearance. Thought extinct until its rediscovery in 1996. * Siquijor bulbul (''H. s.'' ''siquijorensis)'' - ( Steere, 1890): Found on

. Slightly larger with a spiky black crest.

Habitat and conservation status

It is found in tropical lowland moist primary and secondary forest. It is able to tolerate degraded habitat provided there is nearby forest but occurs in lower densities in these areas. IUCN has assessed this bird as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

with population estimates being 2,500 to 9,999 mature individuals and continuing to decrease. Although it can tolerate less than ideal forest, this species' main threat is

with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range.

and

are some of the most deforested islands with just 8 km² of forest remaining on Siquijor and 15km² on Cebu. It appears to face interspecies competition from the Yellow-vented bulbul and the

Philippine bulbul The Philippine bulbul (''Hypsipetes philippinus'') is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mo ...

. Conservation actions proposed include: the promotion of improved management of the existing reserves to prevent further habitat deterioration on

and

; the designation of further protected areas as appropriate, particularly on

; the promotion of

forest restoration Forest restoration is defined as “actions to re-instate ecological processes, which accelerate recovery of forest structure, ecological functioning and biodiversity levels towards those typical of climax forest” i.e. the end-stage of natural ...

and regeneration on

; and on

, investigation into the potential for targeted conservation, including captive breeding, of the subspecies ''monticola''.

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 lo ...

'' 16: 164–166
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* Moyle, Robert G. & Marks, Ben D. (2006): Phylogenetic relationships of the bulbuls (Aves: Pycnonotidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 40(3): 687–695. (HTML abstract) * Pasquet, Éric; Han, Lian-Xian; Khobkhet, Obhas & Cibois, Alice (2001): Towards a molecular systematics of the genus ''Criniger'', and a preliminary phylogeny of the bulbuls (Aves, Passeriformes, Pycnonotidae). ''Zoosystema'' 23(4): 857–863
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streak-breasted bulbul The streak-breasted bulbul (''Hypsipetes siquijorensis'') is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the Philippines being found in the Visayas on the islands of Tablas Island, Siquijor, Cebu and Romblon where it ...

Birds of Cebu Endemic birds of the Philippines

Taxa named by Joseph Beal Steere Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pycnonotidae-stub