Lagi Pasal Merbah Jambul

MERBAH JAMBUL/Red-whiskered Bulbul

Scientific name: Pycnonotus jocosus
Family: Pycnonotidae
Order: Passeriformes

Featured Bird Groups
Introduced birds

What does it look like?
Description

The Red-whiskered Bulbul is not easily mistaken for any other species of bird in Malaysia. It has a pointed black crest, white cheeks, brown back, reddish under tail coverts and a long white-tipped tail. The red whisker mark, from which it gets its name, is located below the eye, but is not always easy to see. Both male and female birds are similar in plumage, while young birds are duller with a greyish-black crown. Red-whiskered Bulbuls are not timid around humans, perching prominently on the top of bushes or on power lines.

Bulbuls are common in urban areas, where they inhabit parks, gardens and along creeks.

What does it do?
Feeding

Red-whiskered Bulbuls feed on a variety of native and introduced fruits, insects and flower buds. Groups of up to 50 or so birds may gather around a food source, although smaller groups of three to five birds are more common. Birds chatter noisily as they actively feed among the dense bushes.
Breeding

Red-whiskered Bulbuls build an open cup nest of rootlets, bark and leaves, lined with soft fibre. The nest is usually placed in a low tree fork. Two or three broods may be reared in a season. Both birds incubate the eggs and care for the young birds. The eggs are pale pink, streaked and spotted with shades of red.

References

Pizzey, G. and Knight, F. 1997. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.

Schodde, R. and Tideman, S.C. (eds) 1990. Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds (2nd Edition). Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sydney