Derivation
Pyc-no-not'-us - Gk, pycnos, thick (of plumage); Gk, noton, the back (these birds have denser plumage on their backs): jo-cö'-sus - L., droll
Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) [XC161254]
by Mandar Bhagat from Aldona, North Goa, Goa, India (call, song)
Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) [XC882107]
by Geoff Carey from Pak Sha O, Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong, China (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Mainly September - February.
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F
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A
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S
O
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Nest
Cup-shaped, composed of strips of bark and rootlets, usually with a few large dead leaves or a piece of rag or paper forming a base, lined with fine rootlets, usually in a bush up to 3 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 4; slightly glossy, pale pink with numerous speckles, spots and streaks of varying shades of red, especially at the larger end; oval; about 22 x 17 mm. Incubation: probably 11 - 14 days; by both sexes. Two or three broods per season.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 12 days.
Subspecies
Nominate jocosus, south-eastern China and northern Vietnam, introduced and established in Australia on eastern coast between Sydney and Coffs Harbour and locally in Melbourne.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
abuensis (Whistler, 1931) - North-western India (western Rajasthan, northern Maharashtra, but absent from more arid areas).
fuscicaudatus (Gould, 1866) - Western and central India.
pyrrhotis (Bonaparte, 1850) - Northern India (Punjab east to Arunachal Pradesh) and Nepal.
emeria (Linnaeus, 1758) - Eastern India (Ganges Delta south to Rameswaram, in Tamil Nadu), Bangladesh, north, western and southern Myanmar (including Arakan Hills) and south-western Thailand.
whistleri Deignan, 1948 - Andaman Is.
monticola (Horsfield, 1840) - Eastern Himalayas in north-eastern India and southern Tibet east to northern Myanmar and southern China (western and southern Yunnan).
pattani Deignan, 1948 - Extreme southern Myanmar (southern Tenasserim), Thailand, northern Peninsular Malaysia, Laos and southern Indochina.
hainanensis (Hachisuka, 1939) - Northern Vietnam and southern China (southern Guangdong, including Nao Chow Tao).
jocosus (Linnaeus, 1758) - South-eastern China (Guizhou east to Guangxi, eastern Guangdong and Hong Kong).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9