The sooty-headed bulbul (''Pycnonotus aurigaster'') is a species of songbird in 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 As ...

family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in south-eastern Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

Description

A medium-sized songbird measuring between 18 and 21 centimetres in length with a short crest, the sooty-headed bulbul can be distinguished from the similar red-vented bulbul by its tan front, less extensive area of black on its head and gold-colored vent in certain subspecies. Its call is a series of whistled notes similar in tone to that of the red-whiskered bulbul, but delivered in a more hurried manner.

Taxonomy and systematics

The sooty-headed bulbul was originally described in the genus '' Turdus''. Alternate names for the sooty-headed bulbul include the golden-vented bulbul and several names used for other species (black-capped, red-vented, white-eared and yellow-vented bulbul).

Subspecies

Nine

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: * ''P. a. chrysorrhoides'' - ( Lafresnaye, 1845): Originally described as a separate species. Found in south-eastern China * ''P. a. resurrectus'' - Deignan, 1952: Found in southern China and north-eastern Vietnam * ''P. a. dolichurus'' - Deignan, 1949: Found in central Vietnam * ''P. a. latouchei'' - Deignan, 1949: Found from eastern Myanmar to southern China and northern Indochina * ''P. a. klossi'' - ( Gyldenstolpe, 1920): Found in south-eastern Myanmar and northern Thailand * ''P. a. schauenseei'' - Delacour, 1943: Found in south-eastern Myanmar and northern Thailand * ''P. a. thais'' - ( Kloss, 1924): Found in central and southern Thailand, central Laos * ''P. a. germani'' - ( Oustalet, 1878): Originally described as a separate species in the genus '' Ixos''. Found in eastern Thailand and southern Indochina * ''P. a. aurigaster'' - ( Vieillot, 1818): Found in Java and

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

Behavior and ecology

In Hong Kong, the sooty-headed bulbul, whilst not a rarity, is markedly less common than the red-whiskered and light-vented bulbuls. Unlike these two species, it appears to prefer dryland agricultural areas above other habitats, but can also be found in fire-damaged and degraded hill

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

Distribution and habitat

The sooty-headed bulbul can be found in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. In China, the species is mainly limited to the south of the country, corresponding to the extent of the palaeotropical ecoregion, but the species has been recorded as far north as Shanghai in the east and Chengdu in the west. The bird has a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

broken into two subpopulations by the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

, where it does not seem to occur between Prachuap Khiri Khan province in Thailand in the north, and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in the south.

Gallery

image:Pycnonotus aurigaster, Sooty-headed bulbul (juvenile) - Huai Kha Khaeng (20786239631).jpg, Juvenile of Sooty-headed Bulbul image:Pycnonotus aurigaster.JPG, Feeding image:Sooty-headed Bulbul.jpg, ''Pycnonotus aurigaster'' image:Sooty-headed Bulbul .jpg, ''Pycnonotus aurigaster''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q614824

sooty-headed bulbul The sooty-headed bulbul (''Pycnonotus aurigaster'') is a species of songbird in the Bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in south-eastern Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Description A medium-sized s ...

Birds of China Birds of Southeast Asia

Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot