Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster)

Family
Pycnonotidae (Bulbuls)

Size
19 - 21 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Vieillot, 1818)

Habitat
Secondary forest, scrub, cultivated areas, rural gardens, plantations.

Range (Guide)

Cambodia, China (mainland), Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Laos (B), Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam.

Introduced to Timor-Leste (B) (NB).

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
A bubbly, cheerful 'witti-wi-i-wit', repeated, the first note sharply downwardly then upwardly inlected. The middle notes being of higher pitch.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (133)...)

Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) [XC31436]
by Mike Nelson from Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia (song)

Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) [XC446591]
by Tom Squires from Zhanjiang Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China (alarm call, call)

Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) and sometimes treated as conspecific.

Proposed subspecies deignani (south-eastern Thailand) and innitens (south-central Thailand) indistinguishable from thais; and chrysorrhoeus, crocorrhous (both Java) and martini (Sumatra) inseparable from nominate. Subspecies chrysorrhoides and resurrectus formerly known respectively as atricapilla and insularis, but these two names invalid, as preoccupied.

The following 9 subspecies are recognised:

latouchei Deignan, 1949 - Southern China (south-western Sichuan and western and southern Yunnan east to southern Hunan and north-eastern Guangxi) and eastern Myanmar east to north-eastern Thailand, northern Laos and northern Vietnam (western Tonkin).
chrysorrhoides (Lafresnaye, 1845) - South-eastern China.
resurrectus Deignan, 1952 - Northern Vietnam (eastern Tonkin, northern Annam) and south-eastern China (western Guangdong, Nao Chow Tao).
klossi (Gyldenstolpe, 1920) - South-eastern Myanmar and northern Thailand.
schauenseei Delacour, 1943 - Southern Myanmar (central Tenasserim) and south-western Thailand.
thais (Kloss, 1924) - Central and south-eastern Thailand and central Laos.
dolichurus Deignan, 1949 - Central Vietnam (central Annam).
germani (Oustalet, 1878) - Extreme south-eastern Thailand, Cambodia and southern Indochina.
aurigaster (Vieillot, 1818) - Java; Bali (possibly introduced).

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) - 10 files

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