Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus tricolor)

Cover image of Common Bulbul by Lia Steen – Shellybeach, KwaZulu-Natal

Identification

The Common or Dark-capped Bulbul is a distinctive and easily recognisable species. The head is black and contrasts with the grey neck and breast. The rest of the upperparts are dusky grey-brown. The underparts are a paler greyish-white and the vent is bright-yellow. The eye is dark brown with a narrow black eye ring.

The sexes are alike and juveniles look similar but with duller plumage.

The Common Bulbul can only be mistaken for the African Red-eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus nigricans) and the Cape Bulbul (Pycnonotus capensis). The Common Bulbul is easily separated by its black, not red or white eye ring.

Status and Distribution

The Common Bulbul is a common to locally abundant resident. It is widespread across Africa, avoiding only the arid regions. In Southern Africa it is found in the moister eastern parts from the Eastern Cape, throughout KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo. It is also found throughout southern Mozambique and Zimbabwe and the northern and eastern parts of Botswana and Namibia’s Caprivi Strip.

The Common Bulbul is not a conservation priority because it is common and widespread, and has benefited from its association with humans.

Habitat

The Common Bulbul occupies a wide range of habitats. These include moister woodland and savanna, riverine bush, forest edge and regenerating forest (but not normally the forest interior), dense montane scrub, alien tree plantations, orchards, gardens, and parks. The Common Bulbul flourishes in suburban habitats where it is usually one of the most abundant bird species.

Behaviour

The Common Bulbul is usually encountered in pairs or loose groups particularly at good food sources like fruiting trees. They are highly vocal and conspicuous and become tame around human habitation. The Common Bulbul is a regular and noisy participant in mixed-species mobbing parties and is quick to spot snakes and other predators. Common Bulbuls are known to practise ‘anting’ by crouching among ants with the tail and wings spread. They drink and bathe regularly.

The diet consists mostly of fruit, nectar and a range of insects and other invertebrates. Gleans insects and picks fruits from trees and shrubs and occasionally takes fallen food from the ground. Also feeds at bird tables and regularly forages around picnic sites and camping grounds.

Common Bulbuls are monogamous and become strongly territorial during the breeding season, which takes place during Spring and Summer.

The nest is a neat, strong, thin-walled cup of dry grass, rootlets and small twigs, bound on the outer edge with a thin layer of spider web. The interior is lined with fine plant fibres, animal hair, and other similar materials. The nest is built entirely by the female but the male remains close by, often singing from nearby trees or bushes. The nest is placed on a branch, or slung between twigs in a fork, and attached with spider web. It is generally situated in a tree canopy away from the trunk and is usually hidden by vegetation.

2 to 3 eggs are laid per clutch. The eggs are either brown, pink or white with brown, red or purplish spotting or streaks. Markings vary in size, density and distribution. Incubation begins after clutch completion and lasts for 12 to 15 days. Incubation duties are performed almost exclusively by the female. The Male feeds the female on the nest and generally remains nearby, calling frequently. Later, both adults feed the chicks. The pair maintain contact when foraging, and return together to the nest. The nestling period lasts for 11 to 16 days. Chicks can barely fly when they leave the nest, remaining bunched together in nearby foliage for a few days before starting to follow their parents. Common Bulbuls are probably single-brooded. Broods are frequently parasitised by Jacobin Cuckoos, and occasionally by the African Emerald, Klaas’s, Diderick, and Red-chested Cuckoos.

Further Resources

Species text in the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997. At this time the scientific name was Pycnonotus barbatus.

The use of photographs by Ansie Dee Reis, Carel van der Merwe, Jon Blanco, Lappies Labuschagne, Sybrand Venter, Tino Herselman and Tony Archer is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Dark-capped Bulbul, Black-eyed Bulbul (Alternative English); Swartoogtiptol (Afrikaans); iPhothwe (Zulu); Ikhwebula (Xhosa); Bokota (Tswana); Bulbul aux yeux noirs, Bulbul tricolore (French); Grauwe Buulbuul (Dutch); Gelbsteißbülbül, Graubülbül (German); Tuta-negra (Portuguese)

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2023. Common Bulbul Pycnonotus tricolor. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2023/08/23/common-bulbul-pycnonotus-tricolor/

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Bird identification, birding