Bird Watching Blog

Black bulbul

Hypsipetes madagascariensis

TAXONOMY

Hypsipetes madagascariensis Gmelin, 1789. Four races recognized based on plumage variation.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Madagascar bulbul, Madagascar black bulbul, Comoro bulbul, Comoro black bulbul; French: Bulbul malgache, Bulbul des Comores; German: Madagaskarfluchtvogel, RotschnabelFluchtvogel; Spanish: Bulbul Negro.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

7.8 in (20 cm). Black, with slight crest and forked tail. Bright red legs and feet. Some races have white head, western races have grayer plumage. Sexes alike. Juvenile has less prominent crest, whitish throat and grayish brown plumage.

DISTRIBUTION

Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, southern China, Taiwan, Hainan, Myanmar, and Indochina.

HABITAT

Tall forest, shade trees in plantations.

BEHAVIOR

Gregarious, very noisy, will gather in flocks of several hundred birds. Has a variety of loud screeching, mewing notes, also repeated "pa-chit-chit" or "pip-per-tree." Flight is strong and swift. One of the few migrating bulbuls, resident in some areas, also moves altitudinally.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Mainly eats insects, also berries. Forages mainly in treetops, moving restlessly from tree to tree.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Breeds March through September, nest built high in forest trees.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened. Locally common.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS None known. ♦