Alternative name: Himalayan Black Bulbul
- Hypsipetes leucocephalus
Identification
Adult
- 23.5-26.5cm (9¼-10½ in)
- Slate grey or black (depending on the race)
- Red beak, legs, and feet
- Fluffy crest
- Long tail
Sexes similar
Young
- No crest
- Whitish underparts
- Grey breast band
- Upperparts are tinged brown
Distribution
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dalhousie Hill Station, Himachal Pradesh, Alt. 6900 ft above MSL, India, 19 June 2014
From the Himalayas of Afghanistan to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma to China and Indochina. Occurs also on Taiwan.
Taxonomy
Formerly regarded as conspecific with Malagasy Bulbul. Furthermore, Square-tailed Bulbul was recently split from this species.
Subspecies
Photo © by Mark Bruce
Manjhou, Kenting National Park, Taiwan, 15 June 2009
About 10 subspecies recognized[1]:
- H. l. psaroides: Himalayas of northern Afghanistan to eastern Assam and south-eastern Tibet
- H. l. nigrescens: Eastern Assam (south of the Brahmaputra) to western Burma
- H. l. ambiens: North-eastern Burma to south-western China (western Yunnan in Irrawaddy watershed)
- H. l. concolor: Eastern Burma to south-western China, eastern Thailand, Laos and southern Vietnam
- H. l. sinensis: Eastern Burma to south-western China; winters to Thailand and southern Laos
- H. l. stresemanni: South-western China (Likiang Mountains of north-western Yunnan) to Thailand and southern Laos
- H. l. leucothorax: Eastern China (Sichuan to Shaanxi and Hebei); winters to southern Laos
- H. l. leucocephalus: Maritime provinces of south-eastern China
- H. l. perniger: Hainan (southern China)
- H. l. nigerrimus: Taiwan
- leucothorax, leucocephalus and stresemanni have white heads, the remainder have all black heads.
Habitat
Tall moist-deciduous and evergreen forest up to 2500m.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes seeds, insects, nectar and berries.
Breeding
Their breeding season runs from April to July. They build the nest in a tree or bush; 2-4 eggs are laid.
Vocalisation
Recording © by Alok Tewari
Sat Tal, Dist. Nainital, Uttarakhand, Alt. 5500 ft above MSL, October-2016
Call and song given at Sunset time.
In Culture
In indigenous Taiwanese culture the Black Bulbul is revered as the Fire Bird. It is said that they brought a glowing red coal to the people and thus gave them fire. The hot coal forever left the bird with a brilliant coral-red coloured bill.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Wikipedia
- BF Member observations
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Bulbul. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Bulbul
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
