Black-Headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps)
Image Copyright Paul Dunn
Last Observed: December 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Paul Dunn
The black-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps) is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in forests in south-east Asia. It has a mainly olive-yellow plumage with a glossy bluish-black head. A grey morph where most of the olive-yellow is replaced by grey also exists. The distinctive taxon from the Andamans has most of the head olive, and is increasingly treated as a separate species, the Andaman bulbul, (P. fuscoflavescens). The black-headed bulbul resembles the black-crested bulbul, but has blue eyes (though not reliable in juveniles), a broad yellow tip to the tail, and never shows a crest (however, some subspecies of the black-crested are also essentially crestless, but they have red or yellow throats). The black-headed bulbul mainly feeds on small fruit and berries, but will also take insects. It commonly occurs in small flocks, comprising 6-8 individuals.
Don’t confuse the black-headed bulbul, which has a black head, with teh black-crested bulbul, which has a black head and a black crest, or ornithologists will scorn you.
