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BULBULS  - Africa

Order Passeriformes   Family Pycnonotidae

Bulbuls are a family 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. Most species that are called "bulbuls" are found in Asia, a few are found in Africa. All species that are called "greenbuls" are found in Africa.

Bulbuls are short-necked and slender. The tails are long and the wings short and rounded. In almost all species the bill is slightly elongated and slightly hooked at the end. They vary in length from 13 cm to 29 cm. Overall the sexes are alike, although the females tend to be slightly smaller. The soft plumage of some species is colourful with yellow, red or orange vents, cheeks, throat or supercilia, but most are drab, with uniform olive brown to black plumage. Species with dull coloured eyes often sport contrasting eyerings. Some have very distinct crests. Bulbuls are highly vocal, with the calls of most species being described as nasal or gravelly. Bulbuls eat a wide range of different foods, ranging from fruit to seeds, nectar, small insects and other arthropods and even small vertebrates. The bulbuls are generally monogamous.

Asian Bulbuls

Genus Andropadus

Greenbul,_Sombre  also Sombre Bulbul  Andropadus importunus  Found: Africa
The Sombre Greenbul has dull grayish olive-green plumage;  paler underparts; white iris.
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) ScaryMonkeyShow - Port Elizabeth, South Africa  3) Dick Daniels - Cape Town, South Africa  4) Alan_Manson - South Africa  5, 6) Derek_Keats 




Genus Arizelocichla
Found: Africa

Greenbul,_Cameroon also Cameroon Mountain Greenbul Arizelocichla montana  Found: Cameroon, Nigeria
The Cameroon Greenbul has yellowish-green plumage.
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Biodiversity_Heritage_Library  3) Jacob_Cooper


Greenbul,_Mountain  also  Eastern Mountain Greenbul Arizelocichla nigriceps  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Tanzania  3) Dave_Curtis - Kenya


Greenbul,_Shelley's   Arizelocichla masukuensis  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya


Greenbul,_Striped-cheeked  Arizelocichla milanjensis  Found: Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
Image by: 1) Haller1962 2) Tom Callens - Kenya 3) Peter_Steward  4) Derek_Keats - Zimbabwe


Greenbul,_Western  also  Western Mountain Greenbul Arizelocichla tephrolaema  Found: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Jacob_Cooper - Equatorial Guinea  3) Nigel_Voaden - Cameroon



Genus Atimastillas - 1 species

Greenbul,_Yellow-throated  also Yellow-throated Leaflove  Atimastillas flavicollis  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Ian_White - Namibia  3) Charles_J_Sharp - Uganda



Genus Baeopogon

Greenbul,_Sjostedt's  Baeopogon clamans  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962 2) Nik Borrow - Caameroon


Greenbul,_Honeyguide  Baeopogon indicator  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Nik_Borrow - Gabon



Genus Bleda
Found: Africa

Bristlebill,_Gray-headed  Bleda canicapillus  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Steve_Garvie - Gambia  3) Nik_Borrow.


Bristlebill,_Green-tailed  Bleda eximius  Found: west Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Nik_Borrow


Bristlebill,_Lesser  also Yellow-lored Bristlebill  Bleda notatus  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Julie Dewilde - Congo  3) Jacob_Cooper - Cameroon


Bristlebill, Red-tailed  also  Common Bristlebill  Bleda syndactylus  Found: west-central Africa
The Red-billed Bristlebill has brown-olive upperparts; rufous tail; yellow underparts; grayish-blue orbital skin. Male has red eyes; female brown eyes.
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya  3) Hans Olofsson - Uganda  4) Roger Peet.



Genus Calyptocichla - 1 species

Greenbul,_Golden  Calyptocichla serinus   Found: west-central Africa
The Golden Greenbul has olive upperparts; yellow underparts.
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Mark_van_Boekel  3) Nik_Borrow



Genus Chlorocichla

Greenbul,_Joyful  Chlorocichla laetissima  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Dave_Curtis - Kenya  3) Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya


Greenbul,_Prigogine's  Chlorocichla prigoginei  Found: DR Congo
The Prigogine's Greenbul has olive-green upperparts; yellow throat; gray lores.
Image by: 1) Pixarc


Greenbul,_Simple  Chlorocichla simplex  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Francesco_Veronesi  3) Nik_Borrow - Sierra Leone


Greenbul, Yellow-bellied  Chlorocichla flaviventris  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Charlie Westerinen - Botswana  3) Frans_Vandewalle - Namibia  4) Derek Keats


Greenbul_Yellow-necked also  Falkenstein's Greenbul  Chlorocichla falkensteini  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller62  2) Nik_Borrow - Angola



Genus Criniger

Greenbul,_Eastern_Bearded  Criniger chloronotus  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Nik_Borrow - Cameroon


Bulbul,_Red-tailed  Criniger calurus  Found: west-central Africa
Image by 1) Haller1962  2) John Gerrard Keulemans  3) Francesco_Veronesi - Ghana  4) Nik_Borrow - Uganda


Greenbul,_Western_Bearded  Criniger barbatus  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Nicolas_LeJeune  3) Nik_Borrow - Liberia


Greenbul,_White-bearded  Criniger ndussumensis  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Marc_Languy - Cameroon


Greenbul,_Yellow-bearded  Criniger olivaceus  Found: west Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) John_Gerrard_Keulemans  3) Nik_Borrow - Liberia
2) White-throated Greenbul above; Yellow-bearded Greenbul below



Genus Eurillas

Greenbul,_Ansorge's  Eurillas ansorgei  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Nik_Borrow - Cameroon
2) Probable identification


Greenbul,_Gray also Little-gray Greenbul  Eurillas gracilis  Found: west-central Afica
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2, 3) Francesco_Veronesi - Ghana


Greenbul,_Little  Eurillas virens  Found: central Africa
The Little Greenbul has mainly green upperparts with brown wings, upper-tail; pale grayish-green underparts; brown bill; light yellow-brown feet.
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Hectonichus  3) Francesco_Veronesi - Malawi


Greenbul,_Plain   Eurillas curvirostris  also Andropadus curvirostris   Found: central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Dave_Curtis - Kenya  3) Helen_Hipperson - Uganda


Greenbul,_Yellow-whiskered  Eurillas latirostris  also  Andropadus latirostris Found:
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya



Genus Hypsipetes
Also Asian Species

Bulbul,_Grand_Comoro also Comoro Black Bulbul Hypsipetes parvirostris  Found: Comoro and Mayotte - west of Madigascar
Image by: 1) Dubi_Shapiro


Bulbul, Madagascar  Hypsipetes madagascariensis  Found: Madagascar
Image by: 1) Werner Witte  2) Bernard Dupont   3, 4, 5) Dick Daniels



Bulbul,_Mauritius  Hypsipetes olivaceus  Found: Mauritius (east of Madagascar)
The Mauritius Bulbul has mainly gray plumage; black crown, eye-line; orange bill; pink legs.
Image by: 1, 3) Jerry_Oldenettel  2) Josh_Noseworthy


Bulbul,_Moheli  Hypsipetes moheliensis  Found: Mohéli Island (part of Comoro Islands)
The Moheli Bulbul is also considered a subspecies of Grand Comoro Bulbul.
Image by: 1) Markus_Lagerqvist


Bulbul,_Reunion  Hypsipetes borbonicus  Found: Reunion Islands (east of Madagascar)
Image by: 1) B_Navez


Bulbul,_Seychelles  Hypsipetes crassirostris  Found: Seychelles Islands - northeast of Madagascar
Image by: 1) LonelyShrimp  2) Marion_Schneider_n_Christoph_Aistleitner  3) Christian_Moritz



Genus Ixonotus - 1 species

Greenbul,_Spotted  Ixonotus guttatus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Nik_Borrow - Uganda



Genus Neolestes - 1 species

Bulbul,_Black-collared  Neolestes torquatus  Found: Angola, Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, Zambia.
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Nik Borrow - Gabon  3) Ron_Hoff - Gabon



Genus Phyllastrephus

Brownbul, Northern  Phyllastrephus strepitans  Found: eastern Africa
1) Haller1962  2) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya 3) Peter Steward - Kenya  4) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia


Brownbul, Terrestrial  Phyllastrephus terrestris   Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Alan Manson - South Africa  3)  Francesco_Veronesi - Malawi  4) Johann_duPreez  5) Dick - Birds of Eden



Greenbul,_Baumann's  Phyllastrephus baumanni  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) hbw.com


Greenbul,_Cabanis's  Phyllastrephus cabanisi  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Tom_Callens - Kenya  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Malawi


Greenbul,_Cameroon_Olive  Phyllastrephus poensis  Found: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Jacob_Cooper


Greenbul,_Fischer's  Phyllastrephus fischeri  Found: Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, and Tanzania.
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) David_Bygott  3) Stein_Nilsen


Greenbul,_Gray-headed  Phyllastrephus poliocephalus  Found: Cameroon, Nigeria
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) www.buulbuul.nl 


Greenbul_Gray-olive  Phyllastrephus cerviniventris  Found: east-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) John_Sawyer - Zambia  3) Nik_Borrow - Tanzania


Greenbul,_Icterine  Phyllastrephus icterinus  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Michael_Andersen - Sierra Leone


Greenbul,_Liberian  Phyllastrephus leucolepis  Found: Liberia
Image by: 1) pixarc.com


Greenbul,_Pale-olive  Phyllastrephus fulviventris  Found: Angola, DR Congo, Gabon
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Tony Dowd - Angola


Leaflove,_Red-tailed  Phyllastrephus scandens  Found: central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Swainson


Greenbul,_Sassi's Olive  Phyllastrephus lorenzi  Found: DR Congo, Uganda
Image by: 1) hbw.com


Greenbul,_(Lowlaqnd) Tiny  Phyllastrephus debilis  Found: Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) www.buulbuul.nl  3) Oleg_Chernyshov - Kenya


Greenbul,_Toro_Olive  Phyllastrephus hypochloris  Found: central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Nik_Borrow - Uganda


Greenbul,_White-throated  Phyllastrephus albigularis  Found: west-central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) John_Gerrard_Keulemans  3) Helen Hipperson - Uganda
2) White-throated Greenbul above; Yellow-bearded Greenbul below


Greenbul,_Xavier's  Phyllastrephus xavieri  Found: west and central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) ERIKA webdesign


Greenbul,_Yellow-streaked  Phyllastrephus flavostriatus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2, 3) Derek_Keats - South Africa
2) Note yellow streaking on wing.



Genus Pycnonotus
Also Asian Species

Bulbul, Black-fronted also African Red-eyed Bulbul Pycnonotus nigricans  Found: Africa 
Image by: 1 Hans Hillewaert - Namibia  2) Cristiano Crolle - Swakopmund, Namibia   3) Frank Vassen - Namibia  4) Derek_Keats - South Africa


Bulbul, Cape   Pycnonotus capensis   Found: Africa
Image by: 1, 4, 5) Dick Daniels - De Hoop, South Africa   2) Sandy Cole - Birds of Eden in South Africa   3) Derek_Keats - South Africa  6) Dick - Plettenberg Bay, South Africa 

Bulbul, Common  also Black-eyed Bulbul    Pycnonotus barbatusFound: Africa, Oman, Syria
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - specimen in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya  2) Arno Meintjes   3, 4) Dick - Tanzania   5, 6, 7) Dick - South Africa   8) Dick - Kenya




Genus Stelgidillas - 1 species

Greenbul,_Slender-billed  Stelgidillas gracilirostris Found: central Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Francesco_Veronesi



Genus Thescelocichla - 1 species

Greenbul,_Swamp_Palm  Thescelocichla leucopleura  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Haller1962  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Ghana  3) Paul_van_Giersbergen - Gabon





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