Pycnonotus

Black-crested bulbul Pycnonotus melanicterus, copyright Don-Jean Léandri.

Belongs within: Pycnonotidae.

Pycnonotus is a diverse genus of bulbuls found in Africa and southern Asia, with the higher diversity of species in the latter. Notable members include the red-whiskered bulbul P. jocosus, native to southern and south-eastern Asia, which has brown upperparts, whitish underparts, an erect black crest, red cheek-patch and red vent.

Pycnonotus Boie 1826 B94 (see below for synonymy)
    |--+--+--P. atriceps JT12 [=*Brachypus atriceps B94]
    |  |  `--P. urostictus JT12
    |  |       |--P. u. urostictus L03
    |  |       `--P. u. atricaudatus Parkes 1867 L03
    |  `--+--P. eutilotus JT12 [incl. Pinarocichla euptilosae L03]
    |     `--P. melanoleucos JT12
    `--+--+--P. melanicterus BKB15
       |  |    |--P. m. melanicterus S02
       |  |    `--P. m. gularis S02
       |  `--+--P. erythropthalmos BKB15
       |     `--+--P. cyaniventris BKB15
       |        `--P. squamatus JT12
       `--+--Spizixos Blyth 1845 JT12, B94 [Spizixidae]
          |    |--S. canifrons JT12
          |    `--S. semitorques JT12
          |         |--S. s. semitorques L03
          |         `--S. s. cinereicapillus Swinhoe 1871 [=Spizixus cinereicapillus] L03
          `--+--+--P. finlaysoni Strickland 1844 BKB15, W66
             |  `--P. zeylanicus JT12
             `--+--+--P. simplex BKB15
                |  |    |--P. s. simplex L03
                |  |    `--P. s. prillwitzi Hartert 1902 L03
                |  `--+--P. brunneus JT12
                |     `--P. plumosus JT12
                `--+--P. flavescens BKB15
                   |    |--P. f. flavescens L03
                   |    `--P. f. leucops (Sharpe 1888) [=Oreoctistes leucops] L03
                   `--+--P. goiavier BKB15
                      `--+--+--P. jocosus BKB15
                         |  |    |--P. j. jocosus L81
                         |  |    |--P. j. emeria L81
                         |  |    |--P. j. pattani L81
                         |  |    `--P. j. whistleri L81
                         |  `--+--P. xanthorrhous BKB15 [=Ixus xanthorrhous S89]
                         |     |    |--P. x. xanthorrhous VP89
                         |     |    `--P. x. andersoni VP89
                         |     `--+--P. sinensis (Gmel. 1788) JT12, M01 [=Muscicapa sinensis M01, Ixus sinensis M01]
                         |        |    |--P. s. sinensis L03
                         |        |    |--P. s. formosae Hartert 1910 L03
                         |        |    `--P. s. orii Kuroda 1923 I92
                         |        `--P. taivanus JT12
                         `--+--P. cafer (Linnaeus 1766) BKB15, CC10 [=Turdus cafer CC10]
                            |    |--P. c. cafer CC10 [incl. P. c. vicinus Ripley 1946 L03]
                            |    |--P. c. bengalensis Blyth 1845 CC10
                            |    |--P. c. melanchimus Deignan 1949 L03
                            |    `--P. c. stanfordi Deignan 1949 L03
                            `--+--+--P. leucogenys (Gray 1835) BKB15, L03 (see below for synonymy)
                               |  `--P. xanthopygos BKB15
                               `--+--P. capensis BKB15
                                  `--+--P. barbatus (Desfontaines 1789) BKB15, U93 [=Ixos barbatus B94]
                                     |    |--P. b. barbatus L03
                                     |    |--P. b. dodsoni Sharpe 1895 [incl. P. dodsoni teitensis van Someren 1922] L03
                                     |    |--P. b. gabonensis Sharpe 1871 [incl. P. b. nigeriae Hartert 1921] L03
                                     |    `--P. b. schoanus Neumann 1905 L03
                                     `--P. nigricans JT12

Pycnonotus incertae sedis:
  P. atricapillus S89
  P. aurigaster JT12
    |--P. a. aurigaster L03
    `--P. a. latouchei Deignan 1949 L03
  P. bimaculatus JT12
  P. blanfordi JT12
  ‘Rubigula’ flaviventris [=Otocompsa flaviventris] S89
  P. haemorrhous W66
  P. hualon JT12
  P. leucogrammicus JT12
  P. leucotis (Gould 1836) JT12, L03 (see below for synonymy)
  P. luteolus JT12
  P. nieuwenhuisii JT12
  P. nigropileus Blyth 1847 W66
  P. penicillatus JT12
  P. priocephalus JT12
  P. pygaeus W66
  P. striatus JT12
  P. tympanistrigus JT12
  P. xantholaemus JT12

Pycnonotus Boie 1826 B94 [incl. Brachypus Swainson 1824 non Meyer 1814 B94, Oreoctistes Sharpe 1888 L03, Rubigula Blyth 1845 B94]

Pycnonotus leucogenys (Gray 1835) BKB15, L03 [incl. Molpastes leucogenys picru Koelz 1954 L03]

Pycnonotus leucotis (Gould 1836) JT12, L03 [=P. leucogenys leucotis L03; incl. Molpastes leucotis farahensis Koelz 1939 L03]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[L03] LeCroy, M. 2003. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 5. Passeriformes: Alaudidae, Hirundinidae, Motacillidae, Campephagidae, Pycnonotidae, Irenidae, Laniidae, Vangidae, Bombycillidae, Dulidae, Cinclidae, Troglodytidae, and Mimidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 278: 1–156.

[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.

[M01] Madarász, J. 1901. Madarak [Vögel]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. 21–39. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.

[S89] Salvadori, T. 1889. Viaggio di Leonardo Fea nella Birmania e nelle regioni vicine. XIX.—Uccelli raccolti nei Monti Carin a nord-est di Tounghoo, nel Pegù presso Rangoon e Tounghoo e nel Tenasserim presso Malewoon. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2^a, 7: 369–438.

[S02] Santharam, V. 2002. Fruit and nectar resources in a moist deciduous forest and their use by birds—a preliminary report. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 537–543.

[U93] Unwin, D. M. 1993. Aves. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 717–737. Chapman & Hall: London.

[VP89] Viney, C., & K. Phillipps. 1989. Birds of Hong Kong 5^th ed. Government Printer: Hong Kong.

[W66] Walden, A. 1866. Notes on birds collected in Tennasserim and in the Andaman Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 537–556.

Last updated: 15 July 2019.