Red Wented Bulbul

Description:

The Red-vented Bulbul is easily identified by its short crest giving the head a squarish appearance. The body is dark brown with a scaly pattern while the head is darker or black. The rump is white while the vent is red. The black tail is tipped in white. The Himalayan races have a more prominent crest and are more streaked on the underside. The Race intermedius of the Western Himalayas has a black hood extending to the mid-breast. Population bengalensis of Central and Eastern Himalayas and the Gangetic plain has a dark hood, lacks the scale like pattern on the underside and instead has dark streaks on the paler lower belly. Race stanfordi of the South Assam hills is similar to intermedius. The desert race humayuni has a paler brown mantle.

Habitat:

Red-vented bulbuls feed mainly on fruits, petals of flowers, nectar, insects and occasionally geckos.They have also been seen feeding on the leaves of Medicago sativa. Red-vented bulbuls build their nests in bushes at a height of around 2–3 m (7–10 ft; two or three eggs is a typical clutch. Nests are occasionally built inside houses or in a hole in a mud bank.in one instance, a nest was found on a floating mat of Water hyacinth leaves and another observer noted a pair nesting inside a regularly used bus.Nests in tree cavities have also been noted. They breed from June to September. The eggs are pale-pinkish with spots of darker red more dense at the broad end. They are capable of having multiple clutches in a year. Nests are small flat cups made of small twigs but sometimes making use of metal wires. The eggs hatch after about 14 days. Both parents feed the chicks and on feeding trips wait for the young to excrete, swallowing the faecal sacs produced. The Pied Crested Cuckoo is a brood parasite of this species. Fires, heavy rains and predators are the main causes of fledgeling mortality in scrub habitats in southern India.