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 Asia to Indonesia, and north as far as Japan. A few insular species occur on the tropical islands of the Indian Ocean. There are 166 species in 32 genera. While different species are found in a wide range of habitats, the African species are predominantly found in rainforest, whereas Asian bulbuls are predominantly found in more open areas.
The red-whiskered bulbul, 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 areas of the world where populations have established themselves. It has a loud three or four note call, feeds on fruits and small insects and perches conspicuously on trees. It is common in hill forests and urban gardens.
The Malabar gray hornbill is a hornbill endemic to the Western Ghats and associated hills of southern India. They have a large beak but lack the casque that is prominent in some other hornbill species. They are found mainly in dense forest and around rubber, arecanut or coffee plantations. They move around in pairs or small groups, feeding on figs and other forest fruits. Their loud cackling and laughing call makes them familiar to people living in the region.
The yellow-browed bulbul, or golden-browed bulbul, is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in the forests of southern India and Sri Lanka. The yellow-browed bulbul is mainly yellow on the underside and olive above with a distinct yellow brow. They are easily located by their loud calls but tend to skulk within foliage below the forest canopy. While its taxonomic classification has changed over time, it is currently the sole species within the monotypic genus Acritillas which is closely related to Hemixos.
The white-browed bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in Sri Lanka and peninsular India. Largely olive coloured above with whitish underparts, it has a pale supercilium and a yellow vent. They are found in dense scrub habitats, where they skulk within vegetation and can be difficult to see although their loud and distinct burst of calls is distinctive.
The black-crested bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found from the Indian subcontinent to southeast Asia.
The red-vented bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerines. It is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world and has established itself in New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga and Fiji, as well as parts of Samoa, Australia, USA and Cook Islands. It is included in the list of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.
The black bulbul, also known as the Himalayan black bulbul or Asian black bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found primarily in the Himalayas, its range stretching from Pakistan eastward to Southeast Asia. It is the type species of the genus Hypsipetes, established by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in the early 1830s. There are a number of subspecies, mostly varying in the shade of the body plumage which ranges from grey to black, and some also occur in white-headed morphs, as also suggested by its specific epithet leucocephalus, literally "white head". The legs and bill are always rich orange-red.
The white-bellied blue flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of southwest India. Males are dark blue with a lighter shade of blue on the brow and have a greyish white belly. Females have a rufous breast, a white face and olive grey above.
The black-headed bulbul is a member of the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in forests in south-eastern Asia.
The Nilgiri flycatcher is an Old World flycatcher with a very restricted range in the hills of southern India. It was formerly referred to as the Nilgiri verditer flycatcher because of its similarity to the verditer flycatcher, a winter migrant to the Nilgiris, which, however, has distinct dark lores and a lighter shade of blue. There are two small white patches at the base of the tail. It is found mainly in the higher altitude shola forests of the Western Ghats and the Nilgiris.
The yellow-throated bulbul is a species of songbird in the bulbul family of passerine birds. The species is endemic to southern peninsular India. They are found on scrub habitats on steep, rocky hills many of which are threatened by granite quarrying. It is confusable only with the white-browed bulbul with which its range overlaps but is distinctively yellow on the head and throat apart from the yellow vent. The calls of this species are very similar to that of the white-browed bulbul.
The broad-tailed grassbird is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India with a possibility of occurrence in Sri Lanka. A small, mostly brown bird, it has a broad rounded and graduated tail. It is found only on the higher altitude grassy hills where it usually skulks, except during the breeding season when males fly up into the air to sing in their display. The species is believed to be a resident although it is possible that they make local movements.
The yellow-bellied bulbul is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Pycnonotus is a genus of frugivorous passerine birds in the bulbul family Pycnonotidae.
The Wayanad laughingthrush is a species of laughingthrush in the family Leiothrichidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats south of Goa in India. These laughingthrushes move in groups in dense forests, producing loud calls but tend to be hard to spot in the undergrowth. They have brown upperparts, a white throat, a broad black mask through the eye and a heavy bill with pale yellow on the lower mandible. Despite the name, derived from the Wayanad region, this species has a wider range than the four other south Indian species of laughingthrush that are restricted to the higher elevation hills.
The flame-throated bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds and the state bird of Goa. It is found only in the forests of the Western Ghats in southern India. Formerly included as a subspecies of Pycnonotus flaviventris it has since been elevated to the status of a full species. They are olive-backed with yellow undersides, a triangular orange-red throat and a white iris that stands out against the contrasting black head. They are usually seen foraging in groups in the forest canopy for berries and small insects. They have a call often with two or three tinkling notes that can sound similar to those produced by the red-whiskered bulbul. The species has been referred to in the past by names such as ruby-throated bulbul and black-headed bulbul, but these are ambiguous and could apply to other species such as Rubigula flaviventris and R. dispar.
The square-tailed bulbul is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in south-western India and Sri Lanka. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It was previously classified as a subspecies of the black bulbul.
Vadayil Sankaran Vijayan is an Indian environmentalist, wildlife biologist, ornithologist, an admirer of naturopathy and the founding Director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History. He is currently the chairman of the Salim Ali Foundation.
The genus Brachypodius is a small genus of songbirds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae, that are found in South and Southeast Asia.
