Pycnonotidae

Red-vented Bulbul

Pycnonotus cafer

A perky bulbul with a crimson vent and jaunty crest.

Seen atKunja ·Haldwani ·Ranikhet ·Jageshwar

Opens recordings on xeno-canto, the open bird-sound archive.

In the Lap of Nature

What the hills call it

Bulbul

/ bul·bul /बुलबुल

HindiBird

Red-vented Bulbul — A perky bulbul with a crimson vent and jaunty crest.

Field notes

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pycnonotidae · Bulbuls
Genus: Pycnonotus
Length: 20 cm
Weight: 25–42 g
At Kunja: Resident — here all year round
Conservation: Least Concern

How to know it

A dark bulbul with a black crested head, a scaly grey-brown body, a white rump and a bright crimson patch under the tail. Perky and adaptable.

What it eats

Fruit, berries, flower-nectar, buds and insects — one of the most catholic of feeders.

Where & when to spot it

In gardens, hedges, scrub and the village edge almost everywhere, perching up in the open with a cheery, bubbling call.

Nesting & mating

A neat cup of twigs and rootlets in a bush or creeper; two or three eggs, often several broods.

In the field

When we’ve seen it

Most often photographed in March and December, usually in the middle of the day. That makes spring and winter the clearest windows to spot it around the homestay.

Spotting tip: head out in the middle of the day, walk slowly and stop often, and listen as much as you look — most of these birds call before they show themselves.

In the lens