The little greenbul (''Eurillas virens'') is a species of the

bulbul 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 A ...

family of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by ...

birds. It is found in many parts of

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African c ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The little greenbul was originally described in the genus '' Andropadus'' and was re-classified to the genus ''Eurillas'' in 2010. Alternatively, some authorities classify the little greenbul in the genus ''

Pycnonotus ''Pycnonotus'' is a genus of frugivorous passerine birds in the bulbul family Pycnonotidae. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Pycnonotus'' was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826 with the Cape bulbul as the type speci ...

''.

Subspecies

Five

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized: * ''E. v. amadoni'' - ( Dickerman, 1997): Found on

Bioko Bioko (; historically Fernando Po; bvb, Ëtulá Ëria) is an island off the west coast of Africa and the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea. Its population was 335,048 at the 2015 census and it covers an area of . The island is located of ...

* Upper Guinea little greenbul (''E. v. erythroptera'') - ( Hartlaub, 1858): Found from Gambia to southern Nigeria * ''E. v. virens'' - ( Cassin, 1857): Found from western Cameroon to southern Sudan, western Kenya, southern Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Angola * ''E. v. zanzibarica'' - Pakenham, 1935: Found on

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small isla ...

* ''E. v. zombensis'' - ( Shelley, 1894): Found from south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Zambia to south-eastern Kenya and northern Mozambique. Includes Hall's greenbul (''Eurillas virens '' 'hallae'', named after the British ornithologist

Pat Hall Beryl Patricia Hall, née Woodhouse (13 June 1917 – 26 August 2010) was a British ornithologist, associated with the Natural History Museum. She is best known for her work on African birds. She also wrote a book of whimsical poems with Derek Go ...

and which is only known from a single specimen taken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hall's greenbul may be a

melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...

form of ''E. v. zombensis''.

Description

The little greenbul is a small bird reaching a total length of about 187 mm, with wings of about 80 mm and tail of about 77 mm. The upper tail and wings are brown, while breast and flanks are pale grey-greenish (hence the Latin name ''virens'' of this species, meaning "green"). The bill is brown, the iris is brown and the feet are light yellow-brown.

Distribution and habitat

The little greenbul is found in western, central and eastern Africa. Little Greenbul (Andropadus virens) near water

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 ...

s are subtropical or tropical dry

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and moist

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

Behaviour and ecology

The little greenbul was the subject of a study regarding the impact of

ecotone An ecotone is a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and gras ...

s on

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') le ...

References

Andropadus virens

2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Downloaded on 24 July 2007.
BirdLife International
* Dr. G. Carmichael Low
Bulletin of the british ornithologist club – Vol LV.
little greenbul Birds of the Gulf of Guinea little greenbul Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pycnonotidae-stub