Malaysian birds
Bulbul
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This group of birds that form the Bulbuls is a true representative of birds we called passerine. That's also our impression of these birds, all of them perch in an angular postures and they are noticeably good singers. The dictionary describe them as Songbird. But when a group of them are together, they are gregarious passerine birds. Yes, especially the Yellow-vented Bulbul that wakes me up every morning at 6.45 am with their noisy calls. There are about 130 species of Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae). Mainly found in Asia and Africa. They are frugivorous [fruit eaters], drab colored birds with brown to black plumage. Bulbul also eat many insects. Some exceptional Bulbuls do have more colorful yellow plumage and then others having red or orange vents, cheeks, and throat. A couple of them have very distinct crests. Bulbul have a habit of staggering from bush to bush and doing it in a fluttering way Bulbuls are confident birds and seldom take flight upon sighting human. They are lively, quite a few have calls that sound like musical songs. They tend to be arboreal and make untidy, cup-shaped nests in trees. None is migratory. Pycnonotus is a genus of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. Here is a summary of the 26 species found in Malaysia, lower down would be my illustrative pictures for some of the Bulbuls that I managed to capture. |
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01 Ashy Bulbul
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02 Black & White Bulbul |
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03 Black-crested Bulbul |
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04 Black-headed Bulbul |
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05 Buff vented Bulbul |
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06 Cream vented Bulbul |
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07 Finsch's Bulbul |
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08 Flavescent Bulbul |
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09 Grey-bellied Bulbul |
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10 Grey-cheeked Bulbul |
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11 Hairy-backed Bulbul |
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12 Mountain Bulbul |
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13 Ochraceous Bulbul |
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14 Olive-winged Bulbul |
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15 Puff-backed Bulbul |
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16 Red-eyed Bulbul |
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17 Red-whiskered Bulbul |
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18 Scaly-breasted Bulbul |
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19 Sooty-headed Bulbul |
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20 Spectacled Bulbul |
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21 Straw-headed Bulbul |
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22 Streak-eared Bulbul |
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23 Streaked Bulbul |
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24 Striped-throated Bulbul |
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25 Yellow-bellied Bulbul |
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26 Yellow-vented Bulbul |
Overall, the Bulbul as a breed, we are lucky that we have lots of varieties in Malaysia. In the field, the good point. Then come the disturbing fact - all Bulbuls almost looks alike, more so for beginners who just started taking up the hobby of birding seriously. Bulbuls are readily available in the garden, park and forest, different species. You can say that they would be there - everywhere that one goes to for birding. That is one extreme and the other end, they are all light brown. To the experienced birder, in that brief moment, the diagnostic markings needs to be recognized swiftly evaluated. Those with lesser experience, at nearly all encounters, there is not enough time and daunting trying to seek out the major differences for a positive ID. Unfortunately yes, the differences are so subtle. I can understand the frustration of an early meeting up with a good size bird but could not tell its ID for sure. Never mind, these same birds would appear again and again on that trip or on subsequent visit to the same place.. For a change, I varied the style of write-up for this page. Instead of writing a paragraph on the bird, I have compiled a short list giving brief details on the individual bird.
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