Square-tailed bulbul

Square-tailed bulbul
Not recognized (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pycnonotidae
Genus: Hypsipetes
Species: H. ganeesa
Binomial name
Hypsipetes ganeesa
(Sykes, 1832)

The square-tailed bulbul (Hypsipetes ganeesa) is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in southwest India and Sri Lanka. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It was previously treated as a subspecies of the black bulbul.

Calls of H. ganeesa (Kotagiri, Nilgiris)

The species has no black streak behind the eye and on the ear-coverts that is present in the black bulbul. The Sri Lankan humii has a heavier bill.[1][2][3]

In Southern India, nesting activity begins from February and rises to a peak in May. The eggs hatch after an incubation period of 12 to 13 days and the chicks fledge after about 11 or 12 days. Nest predators include birds of prey (black-winged kite), snakes (Ptyas mucosus).[4] Adults of H. ganeesa have been known to be preyed on by the crested goshawk.[5] Populations make movements in response to the monsoon.[3]

References

  1. Ali, S & S D Ripley (1996). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan 6 (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 109–113.
  2. Blanford WT (1889). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume 1. Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 259–263.
  3. 1 2 Baker, ECS (1924). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds 1 (2 ed.). Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 368–373.
  4. Balakrishnan P (2010). "Reproductive biology of the Square-tailed Black Bulbul Hypsipetes ganeesa in the Western Ghats, India". Indian Birds 5 (5): 134–138.
  5. Davison, William (1883). "Notes on some birds collected on the Nilghiris and in parts of Wynaad and southern Mysore". Stray Feathers 10 (5): 329–419.


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