Pale-faced Bulbul
Pycnonotus leucops
Endemic to Borneo’s montane highlands, this brownish-olive bulbul, with its white face and large, dark eyes, is distinctive. Forages in fruiting trees, as well as low, scrubby growth lining the rocky peaks of the highest mountains. Listen for low, churred calls, given repeatedly or strung into slightly up-and-down song. Formerly treated as a subspecies of Flavescent Bulbul, which has a darker face and does not occur on Borneo.
Identification
At 17.5–19 cm long the pale-faced bulbul is smaller than the flavescent bulbul, with which it was once lumped, which reach 21.5–22 cm in length. Its colouring is mainly brown or grey-brown, darker above than below, with a white or whitish face and throat, and bright yellow undertail-coverts.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Pycnonotus leucops
- Authority
- (Sharpe, 1888)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pycnonotidae
- Genus
- Pycnonotus
Range and habitat
The bulbul is found in the mountains of Borneo in montane primary forest, ranging in altitude from about 900 m to 3500 m above sea level.
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Duchess Lorikeet
Vini margarethae
Beautiful and unmistakable lorikeet, endemic to the Solomon Islands. Rose-red with green wings and a black-bordered yellow band across the chest. Found in forested and forest edge habitats from lowlands up into the mountains. Forages at flowering and fruiting trees. Gives squeaky and chattery calls as they shoot overhead.
Dimorphic Fantail
Rhipidura brachyrhyncha
A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of montane forest and subalpine shrubs. Dull gray-brown underparts and head with contrasting rufous rump and dark wings. Two forms occur. One with a gray brown tail, the other with a dark tail with a broad rufous band on the end. Mixed pairs often occur. Forages fairly low with tail and wings spread. Similar to female Black Fantail, but Dimorphic has more gray-brown underparts and lacks the black central tail feathers. Song, a tuneless jumble of tinkling notes.
Black Oropendola
Psarocolius guatimozinus
Distinctive large oropendola with a small range from eastern Panama into Colombia. Overall black with dark chestnut on back and wings. It has an orange-tipped bill with large patch of blue skin at the base. Sexes similar. Found in pairs or small groups in the canopy or subcanopy of lowland forest and edge up to 800 m elevation. Often found along rivers. Like other oropendolas, builds large hanging nests. Recalls Montezuma Oropendola but no range overlap; also compare with rare Baudó Oropendola, which has pink (not blue) patch on the face.
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