Black-headed Bulbul
Encyclopedia
The Black-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps) is a member of the bulbul
family of passerine
bird
s. It is found in forests in south-east Asia. It has a mainly olive-yellow plumage
with a glossy bluish-black head. A grey morph where most of the olive-yellow is replaced by grey also exists. The distinctive taxon
from the Andamans has most of the head olive, and is increasingly treated as a separate species, the Andaman Bulbul (P. fuscoflavescens). The Black-headed Bulbul resembles the Black-crested Bulbul
, but has blue eyes (though not reliable in juveniles), a broad yellow tip to the tail, and never shows a crest (however, some subspecies of the Black-crested are also essentially crestless, but they have red or yellow throats). The Black-headed Bulbul mainly feeds on small fruit and berries, but will also take insects. It commonly occurs in small flocks, comprising 6-8 individuals.
Bulbul
Bulbuls are a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds. Many forest species are known as greenbuls. 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...
family of passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. It is found in forests in south-east Asia. It has a mainly olive-yellow plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
with a glossy bluish-black head. A grey morph where most of the olive-yellow is replaced by grey also exists. The distinctive taxon
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
from the Andamans has most of the head olive, and is increasingly treated as a separate species, the Andaman Bulbul (P. fuscoflavescens). The Black-headed Bulbul resembles the Black-crested Bulbul
Black-crested Bulbul
The Black-crested Bulbul, Pycnonotus melanicterus, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent including in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, and eastwards in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia....
, but has blue eyes (though not reliable in juveniles), a broad yellow tip to the tail, and never shows a crest (however, some subspecies of the Black-crested are also essentially crestless, but they have red or yellow throats). The Black-headed Bulbul mainly feeds on small fruit and berries, but will also take insects. It commonly occurs in small flocks, comprising 6-8 individuals.