Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)

from Taudaha, Kritipur, Kathmandu

Red-vented Bulbul
P. c. cafer (Tirunelveli, India)
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pycnonotidae
Genus:	Pycnonotus
Species:	P. cafer
Binomial name
Pycnonotus cafer (Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms
Molpastes cafer Molpastes haemorrhous Pycnonotus pygaeus

• The Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) is a member of the bulbul family of passerines.
•  It is resident breeder across the Indian Subcontinent, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Tibet. 
• The Red-vented Bulbul is easily identified by its short crest giving the head a squarish appearance. 
• The body is dark brown with a scaly pattern while the head is darker or black. 
• The rump is white while the vent is red. The black tail is tipped in white. 
• The Himalayan races have a more prominent crest and are more streaked on the underside. 
• The Raceintermedius of the Western Himalayas has a black hood extending to the mid-breast. 
• Population bengalensis of Central and Eastern Himalayas and the Gangetic plain has a dark hood, lacks the scale like pattern on the underside and instead has dark streaks on the paler lower belly. Race stanfordi of the South Assam hills is similar to intermedius. 
• The desert race humayuni has a paler brown mantle. The nominate race cafer is found in Peninsular India.
•  Northeast Indian race wetmorei is between cafer, humayuni and bengalensis. about 20 cm in length, with a long tail. Sri Lankan race haemorrhous (=haemorrhousus has a dark mantle with narrow pale edges.
•  Race humayuni is known to hybridize with Pycnonotus leucogenys and these hybrids were once described as a subspeciesmagrathi marked by their pale rumps and yellow-orange or pink vents.
•  In eastern Myanmar there is some natural hybridization with Pycnonotus aurigaster
• Sexes are similar in plumage, but young birds are duller than adults.
•  The typical call has been transcribed asginger beer but a number of sharp single note calls likened as pick are also produced. 
• Red-vented bulbuls feed on fruits, petals of flowers,nectar, insects and occasionally geckos.They have also been seen feeding on the leaves of Medicago sativa
• Their alarm calls are usually responded to and heeded by many other species of bird
• This is a bird of dry scrub, open forest, plains and cultivated lands.
•  In its native range it is rarely found in mature forests. A study based on 54 localities in India concluded that vegetation is the single most important factor that determines the distribution of the species.
• Red-vented bulbuls build their nests in bushes at a height of around 2–3 m (7–10 ft; two or three eggs is a typical clutch. Nests are occasionally built inside houses or in a hole in a mud bank. In one instance, a nest was found on a floating mat of Water hyacinth leaves and another observer noted a pair nesting inside a regularly used bus. Nests in tree cavities have also been noted
• They breed from June to September. The eggs are pale-pinkish with spots of darker red more dense at the broad end.
• Their vocalizations are usually stereotyped and they call throughout the year. However a number of distinct call types have been identified including roosting, begging, greeting, flight and two kinds of alarm calls
• They are important dispersers of seed of plants such as Carissa spinarum