Tag Archives: Pycnonotidae

A new subspecies of the Ruby-throated Bulbul 

The Ruby-throated Bulbul (Rubigula dispar (Horsfield)) is known to inhabit the islands of Bali, Java and Sumatra in Indonesia and was until now considered monotypic, that means the populations were not seen as being distinct in any way.

According to a new study, however, it is now known that the birds from Sumatra differ from the others by their bright red instead of yellow eyes, and to some degree by subtle differences of the color of their plumage as well as by having a slightly longer beak. 

The Sumatran birds were accordingly classified as a new subspecies and named as Rubigula dispar ssp. matamerah Berryman & Collar.

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a bird from Bali

Photo: Bruno Durand
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/brunodurand
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
a bird from Sumatra

Photo: Mitch Rose
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/mroseup
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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References:

[1] Alex Berryman; Nigel J. Collar: Subspeciation in the Ruby-throated Bulbul Rubigula dispar. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 143(2): 237-243. 2023

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edited: 19.07.2023

Black-headed Bulbul (Brachypodius melanocephalos)

The Black-headed Bulbul is a typical representative of the bulbuls; it comes from Southeast Asia, where it occurs with four subspecies from northeast India, Malaysia and Thailand to Borneo, Java, and Sumatra in Indonesia. 

The species reaches a size of about 17 cm. 

The picture shows the nominate form, which is widespread on the Southeast Asian mainland, there are three color morphs, in addition to the most common one shown here, there is one in which the yellow and green are completely replaced by gray and one with a gray basic coloration in which at least the wings are colored yellow. 

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Incidentally, the original photo I used as a template was taken by Mike Rose (https://eye4birds.photography), who kindly gave me permission to use it.

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edited: 20.07.2023

A new species of bulbul – Creme-eyed Bulbul

This species has only just been described – Creme-eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus pseudosimplex Shakya et al.); it is one of the many cryptic species that have been previously overlooked. 

The species appears to be more closely related to the Gray-fronted Bulbul (Pycnonotus cinereifrons(Tweeddale)) from the island of Palawan, Philippines than to the White-eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus simplexLesson) with which it shares its habitat on the Indonesian island of Borneo and which it closely resembles. [1] 

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Creme-eyed Bulbul

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References:

[1] Subir B. Shakya, Haw Chuan Lim, Robert G. Moyle, Mustafa Abdul Rahman, Maklarin Lakim, Frederick H. Sheldon: A cryptic new species of bulbul from Borneo. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 139(1): 46-55. 2019

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bearbeitet: 20.07.2023