Black-crested Bulbul

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at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India.

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pycnonotidae
Genus:	Pycnonotus
Species:	P. melanicterus

Binomial name

Pycnonotus melanicterus
(Gmelin, 1789)

The Black-crested Bulbul, Pycnonotus melanicterus, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia.

This is a bird of forest and dense scrub. It builds its nest in a bush; two to four eggs is a typical clutch.

The Black-crested Bulbul is about 19cm in length, with a long tail. It has olive upperparts and bright yellow underparts. The head, throat and crest are black. Sexes are similar in plumage, but young birds are duller than adults. The flight is bouncing and woodpecker-like.

There are a number of regional variations in plumage. Some of these races have now been raised to full species.

A Ruby-throated Bulbul

The Ruby-throated Bulbul formerly P. m. gularis and now P. gularis of the Western Ghats in southwest India lacks a crest and has a bright red throat, and P. m. flaviventris, an endemic Sri Lankan subspecies, is also crestless and has its throat concolorous with the rest of the yellow underparts.

Black-crested Bulbuls feed on fruit and insects.

Call

Call of Pycnonotus melanicterus gularis recorded at Wayanad, April 2006

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[edit] References

^ BirdLife International (2004). Pycnonotus melanicterus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern