Red-vented Bulbul Life History

Habitat

Red-vented Bulbuls are closely associated with human habitation in both their native and introduced ranges. They occur in agricultural, suburban, and urban settings—including parks, gardens, and plantations—as well as woodlands and disturbed forests.

Food

Red-vented Bulbuls eat primarily fruits, as well as insects, spiders, leaves, flowers, buds, nectar, and pollen. They forage in trees and shrubs while perched on twigs or stems. They also fly out from perches in pursuit of flying insects.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Placed in shrubs, small trees, hedges, and trellises, typically 1-9 meters (3–30 feet) above the ground, often at the fork of a branch.

Nest Description

A cup constructed of rootlets, twigs, dead leaves, and grasses; tied together on the outside with cobwebs and lined with hair, soft fibers, rootlets, and other fine material.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Red-vented Bulbuls usually occur in pairs or small family groups during the breeding season, and they can be highly aggressive toward other members of the species. They sometimes occur in large groups, often with Red-whiskered Bulbuls, when there are abundant food sources. During the nonbreeding season they gather in large communal roosts.

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Red-vented Bulbul's conservation status as Least Concern.

Credits

BirdLife International. 2018. Pycnonotus cafer. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22712695A132102224. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22712695A132102224.en.

Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp, and T. Inskipp (2011). A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Second edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Islam, K. and R. N. Williams (2020). Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.revbul.01

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