Light-vented bulbul
Song in Taiwan
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pycnonotidae
Genus: Pycnonotus
Species:
P. sinensis
Binomial name
Pycnonotus sinensis
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)
Blue: Extant (breeding), Pink: Extant (resident), Purple: Extant (non-breeding)
Synonyms
  • Muscicapa sinensis

The light-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis), also called the Chinese bulbul, is a species of bird in the bulbul family found in central and southern China, Hong Kong, Macao, northern Vietnam, southern Japan and Taiwan, with occasional records from South Korea. A common species of songbird that favors lightly wooded habitats, it can frequently be seen in towns, suburbs and urban parks within its range.

Taxonomy

The light-vented bulbul was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the flycatchers in the genus Muscicapa and coined the binomial name Muscicapa sinensis.[2] The specific epithet is Modern Latin for "Chinese".[3] Gmelin based his entry on "Le gobe-mouches verdâtre de la Chine" that had been described in 1782 by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat.[4] The type location has been restricted to Guangzhou (Canton).[5] The light-vented bulbul is now one of 32 species placed in the genus Pycnonotus that was introduced in 1836 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie.[6]

Four subspecies are recognized:[6]

Description

The light-vented bulbul is around 19 cm (7.5 in) in length. It has a black crown and moustachial stripe, with white patches covering the nape and the sides of its black head. It has white plumage from its eyes to the back of its head. The upperparts are greyish-brown mixed with olive. The wings and tail are brown fringed with bright olive. The underparts are whitish with a pale brown breastband. It is noisy and sings very brightly and variably with a cha-ko-lee...cha-ko-lee... sound.[7]

Distribution and habitat

It is found in:

In Hong Kong, the light-vented bulbul is abundant in lightly wooded areas, cultivated land and shrubland, whereas the red-whiskered bulbul is the common bulbul of suburbs and urban parks.[1]

Light-vented bulbul from Shanghai

In Taiwan, however, the light-vented bulbul dominates all of these habitats, though it is replaced along the east coast by Styan's bulbul. Chinese bulbuls are seen frequently in Shanghai, where it is perhaps the third most common bird after tree sparrows and spotted doves.[8]

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Pycnonotus sinensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22712643A132100908. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22712643A132100908.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 942.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 357. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ Sonnerat, Pierre (1782). Voyage aux Indes orientales et a la Chine, fait par ordre du Roi, depuis 1774 jusqu'en 1781 (in French). Vol. 2. Paris: Chez l'Auteur. p. 197.
  5. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 233.
  6. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Bulbuls". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  7. ^ Fishpool, L.D.C.; Tobias, J.A. (2005). "Family Pycnonotidae (Bulbuls)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 124-250 [178]. ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6.
  8. ^ "上海鸟类中的"四大金刚"，你都见过，却不一定认识哦". 19 April 2020.
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