Yellow-lored Bristlebill (Bleda notatus) [XC824115]
by \u00c9tienne Leroy from Lompole, Bandundu, Mai-Ndombe, Congo (Democratic Republic) (call)
Yellow-lored Bristlebill (Bleda notatus) [XC762140]
by Deville Tanguy from Mikongo, Lope, Ogoou\u00e9-Ivindo, Gabon (call)
Subspecies
Bleda eximia (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Green-tailed Bristlebill (Bleda eximius) and Yellow-lored Bristlebill (Bleda notatus) following Chappuis and Erard (1993). Gender agreement of species names follows David and Gosselin (2002b).
Until recently treated as a subspecies of Green-tailed Bristlebill (Bleda eximius), but acoustic and morphological data indicate that it is a separate species. Taxonomic confusion resulted in uncertainty over which of the two was involved in published observations in some of the earlier literature. As a consequence of these findings, considered to form a superspecies with Grey-headed Bristlebill (Bleda canicapillus). Molecular evidence from more recent work supports these treatments. It further suggests that subspecies ugandae may also merit species rank, a view reinforced by some morphological and (less convincingly) acoustic data. Species name sometimes given as notata, but genus is masculine.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
notatus (Cassin, 1857) - Extreme south-eastern Nigeria and Bioko I east to south-western Central African Republic, south to lower R Congo.
ugandae van Someren, 1915 - South-eastern Central African Republic, DRCongo (except lower reaches of R Congo), extreme south-western Sudan and Uganda. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Yellow-eyed Bristlebill (Bleda ugandae).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet