Family of birds
Bulbul
|
|
Brown-eared bulbul
(
Hypsipetes amaurotis
)
|
Scientific classification
|
Domain:
|
Eukaryota
|
Kingdom:
|
Animalia
|
Phylum:
|
Chordata
|
Class:
|
Aves
|
Order:
|
Passeriformes
|
Infraorder:
|
Passerides
|
Parvorder:
|
Sylviida
|
Family:
|
Pycnonotidae
Gray, GR
, 1840
|
Genera
|
See text
|
Synonyms
|
- Brachypodidae
Swainson
, 1831
- Trichophoridae
Swainson, 1831
- Ixosidae
Bonaparte
, 1838
- Hypsipetidae
Bonaparte, 1854
- Crinigeridae
Bonaparte, 1854 (1831)
- Phyllastrephidae
Milne-Edwards
&
Grandidier
, 1879
- Tyladidae
Oberholser
, 1917
- Spizixidae
Oberholser, 1919
|
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.
Taxonomy
[
edit
]
The family Pycnonotidae was introduced by the English zoologist
George Robert Gray
in 1840 as a subfamily Pycnonotinae of the thrush family
Turdidae
.
[1]
[2]
The Arabic word
bulbul
(????) is sometimes used to refer to the "
nightingale
" as well as the bulbul, but the English word
bulbul
refers to the birds discussed in this article.
[3]
A few species that were previously considered to be members of the Pycnonotidae have been moved to other families. Several Malagasy species that were formerly placed in the genus
Phyllastrephus
are now placed in the family
Bernieridae
.
[4]
[5]
In addition, the genus
Nicator
containing three African species is now placed in a separate family
Nicatoridae
.
[6]
[7]
A study published in 2007 by Ulf Johansson and colleagues using three nuclear markers found that the genus
Andropadus
was
non-monophyletic
. In the subsequent revision, species were moved to three resurrected genera:
Arizelocichla
,
Stelgidillas
and
Eurillas
. Only the
sombre greenbul
(
Andropadus importunus
), was retained in
Andropadus
.
[8]
[9]
A study by Subir Shakya and Frederick Shelden published in 2017 found that species in the large genus
?Pycnonotus
formed several deeply divergent clades. The genus was split and six genera were resurrected to accommodate these clades.
[8]
[10]
The family forms two main clades. One clade contains species that are only found in Africa; many of these have greenbul in the common name. The second clade contains mostly Asian species but includes a few species that are found in Africa.
[10]
|
|
|
Pycnonotidae
? bulbuls (166 species)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phylogeny based on a study of the babblers by Cai and colleagues published in 2019.
[8]
[11]
|
List of genera
[
edit
]
Currently, there are 166 recognized species in 32 genera:
[8]
Cladogram
[
edit
]
|
|
Africa clade
|
|
|
mainly Asian clade
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phylogeny based on a study by Subir Shakya and Frederick Shelden published in 2017 with the revised genera as defined in the list maintained on behalf of the
International Ornithological Committee
.
[8]
[10]
The positions of the
bare-faced bulbul
(
Nok hualon
) and the
yellow-browed bulbul
(
Acritillas indica
) are based on a study by Jerome Fuchs and colleagues published in 2018.
[12]
As currently defined the genera
Chlorocichla
and
Arizelocichla
are not
monophyletic
.
|
Description
[
edit
]
Bulbuls are short-necked slender passerines. The tails are long and the wings short and rounded. In almost all species the
bill
is slightly elongated and slightly hooked at the end. They vary in length from 13 cm and 13.3 g (0.47 oz) for the
tiny greenbul
to 29 cm and 93 g (3.3 oz) in the
straw-headed bulbul
.
[13]
Overall the sexes are alike, although the females tend to be slightly smaller. In a few species the differences are so great that they have been described as functionally different species. The soft
plumage
of some species is colorful with yellow, red or orange vents, cheeks, throat or supercilia, but most are drab, with uniform olive-brown to black plumage. Species with dull coloured eyes often sport contrasting eyerings. Some have very distinct crests. Bulbuls are highly
vocal
, with the calls of most species being described as nasal or gravelly. One author described the song of the
brown-eared bulbul
as "one of the most unattractive noises made by any bird".
[14]
Behaviour and ecology
[
edit
]
Breeding
[
edit
]
The bulbuls are generally
monogamous
. One unusual exception is the
yellow-whiskered greenbul
which at least over part of its range appears to be polygamous and engage in a
lekking
system. Some species also have
alloparenting
arrangements, where non-breeders, usually the young from earlier clutches, help raise the young of a dominant breeding pair.
[15]
Up to five speckled eggs are laid in open tree nests and
incubated
by the female. Incubation usually lasts between 11 and 14 days, and chicks
fledge
after 12?16 days.
[16]
Feeding
[
edit
]
Bulbuls eat a wide range of foods, ranging from fruit to seeds, nectar, small insects and other arthropods and even small vertebrates. The majority of species are frugivorous and supplement their diet with some insects, although there is a significant minority of specialists, particularly in Africa. Open country species in particular are generalists. Bulbuls in the genus
Criniger
and bristlebills in the genus
Bleda
will join
mixed-species feeding flocks
.
Relationship to humans
[
edit
]
The
red-whiskered bulbuls
and
red-vented bulbuls
have been captured for the pet trade in great numbers and have been widely introduced to tropical and subtropical areas, for example, southern
Florida
,
Fiji
,
Australia
and
Hawaii
. Some species
[
which?
]
are regarded as crop pests, particularly in orchards.
[
citation needed
]
In general, bulbuls and greenbuls are resistant to human pressures on the environment and are tolerant of disturbed habitat. Around 13 species are considered
threatened
by human activities, mostly specialised forest species that are threatened by
habitat loss
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Gray, George Robert
(1840).
A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus
. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 28.
- ^
Bock, Walter J. (1994).
History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names
. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 222. New York: American Museum of Natural History. pp. 201, 237.
hdl
:
2246/830
.
- ^
Fishpool & Tobias 2005
, pp.
161?162
.
- ^
Cibois, Alice; Slikas, Beth; Shulenberg, Thomas S.; Pasquet, Eric (2001). "An endemic radiation of Malagasy songbirds is revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data".
Evolution
.
55
(6): 1198?1206.
doi
:
10.1554/0014-3820(2001)055[1198:AEROMS]2.0.CO;2
.
PMID
11475055
.
- ^
Cibois, Alice; David, Normand; Gregory, Steven M. S.; Pasquet, Eric (2010). "Bernieridae (Aves: Passeriformes): a family-group name for the Malagasy sylvioid radiation".
Zootaxa
.
2554
: 65?68.
doi
:
10.11646/zootaxa.2554.1.6
.
- ^
Beresford, P.; Barker, F.K.; Ryan, P.G.; Crowe, T.M. (2005).
"African endemics span the tree of songbirds (Passeri): molecular systematics of several evolutionary 'enigmas'
"
.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
.
272
(1565): 849?858.
doi
:
10.1098/rspb.2004.2997
.
PMC
1599865
.
PMID
15888418
.
- ^
Johansson, U.S.; Fjeldsa, J.; Bowie, R.C.K. (2008). "Phylogenetic relationships within Passerida (Aves: Passeriformes): A review and a new molecular phylogeny based on three nuclear intron markers".
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
.
48
(3): 858?876.
doi
:
10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.029
.
PMID
18619860
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Gill, Frank
; Donsker, David;
Rasmussen, Pamela
, eds. (July 2021).
"Bulbuls"
.
IOC World Bird List Version 11.2
. International Ornithologists' Union
. Retrieved
9 December
2021
.
- ^
Johansson, U.S.; Fjeldsa, J.; Lokugalappatti, L.G.S.; Bowie, R.C.K. (2007). "A nuclear DNA phylogeny and proposed taxonomic revision of African greenbuls (Aves, Passeriformes, Pycnonotidae)".
Zoologica Scripta
.
36
(5): 417?427.
doi
:
10.1111/j.1463-6409.2007.00290.x
.
S2CID
84799480
.
- ^
a
b
c
Shakya, Subir B.; Sheldon, Frederick H. (2017).
"The phylogeny of the world's bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) inferred using a supermatrix approach"
.
Ibis
.
159
(3): 498?509.
doi
:
10.1111/ibi.12464
.
- ^
Cai, T.; Cibois, A.; Alstrom, P.; Moyle, R.G.; Kennedy, J.D.; Shao, S.; Zhang, R.; Irestedt, M.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Gelang, M.; Qu, Y.; Lei, F.; Fjeldsa, J. (2019).
"Near-complete phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the world's babblers (Aves: Passeriformes)"
.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
.
130
: 346?356.
doi
:
10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.010
.
PMID
30321696
.
- ^
Fuchs, J.; Pasquet, E.; Stuart, B.L.; Woxvold, I.A.; Duckworth, J.W.; Bowie, R.C.K. (2018). "Phylogenetic affinities of the enigmatic Bare-faced Bulbul
Pycnonotus hualon
with description of a new genus".
Ibis
.
160
(3): 659?665.
doi
:
10.1111/ibi.12580
.
- ^
Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (2008).
CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses
(2nd ed.). CRC Press.
ISBN
978-1-4200-6444-5
.
- ^
Fishpool & Tobias 2005
, p.
146
.
- ^
Fishpool & Tobias 2005
, p.
151
.
- ^
Fishpool & Tobias 2005
, pp.
154?155
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Fishpool, L.D.C.; Tobias, J.A. (2005).
"Family Pycnonotidae (Bulbuls)"
. In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A. (eds.).
Handbook of the Birds of the World
. Vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 124?250.
ISBN
978-84-87334-72-6
.
External links
[
edit
]