View source for Flame-throated bulbul

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Flame-throated bulbul.jpg
| image_caption = Flame-throated bulbul at [[Dandeli]], India<br />[[File:Pycnonotus gularis, Wayanad, Kerala, India.oga|Calls]]
| status = LC 
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Rubigula gularis'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T103826116A104339313 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103826116A104339313.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Rubigula gularis
| authority = ([[John Gould|Gould]], 1836)
| synonyms = 
* ''Brachypus gularis'' <small>protonym</small>
* ''Pycnonotus melanicterus gularis''
* ''Brachypus rubineus'' <small>Jerdon, 1839</small><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46487902| journal=Madras Journal of Literature and Science|volume=10| year=1839|title=Catalogue of the birds of the peninsula of India...|pages=234–269|author=Jerdon, T.C.}}</ref>
* ''Pycnonotus gularis'' 
}}

The '''flame-throated bulbul''' ('''''Rubigula gularis''''') is a member of the [[bulbul]] family of [[passerine]] [[bird]]s and the state bird of [[Goa]]. It is found only in the forests of the [[Western Ghats]] in southern India. Formerly included as a subspecies of ''Pycnonotus flaviventris'' it has since been elevated to the status of a full species. They are olive-backed with yellow undersides, a triangular orange-red throat and a white iris that stands out against the contrasting black head. They are usually seen foraging in groups in the forest canopy for berries and small insects. They have a call often with two or three tinkling notes that can sound similar to those produced by the [[red-whiskered bulbul]]. The species has been referred to in the past by names such as ruby-throated bulbul and black-headed bulbul, but these are ambiguous and could apply to other species such as ''[[Rubigula flaviventris]]'' and ''[[Rubigula dispar|R. dispar]]''.

==Taxonomy and systematics==
{{cladogram|
|align=left|caption=Near relatives of the flame-throated bulbul<ref name=phylo />
|cladogram=
{{clade|style=font-size:75%;line-height:75%
 |label1=&nbsp;
 |1={{clade
  |label1=&nbsp;
  |1={{clade
   |1=''[[Pycnonotus erythropthalmos]]''
   |label2=&nbsp;
   |2={{clade
    |1=''[[Pycnonotus squamatus]]''
    |2=''[[Pycnonotus cyaniventris]]''
   }}
  }}
  |grouplabel2= now genus<br/>''[[Rubigula]]'' |bar2=green
  |2={{clade
   |1=''[[Pycnonotus flaviventris]]''
   |label2=&nbsp;
   |2={{clade
    |label1=&nbsp;
    |1={{clade
     |1=''Pycnonotus gularis''
     |2=''[[Pycnonotus melanicterus]]''
    }}
    |label2= 
    |2={{clade
     |1=''[[Pycnonotus dispar]]''
     |2=''[[Pycnonotus montis]]''
    }}
   }}
  }}
 }}
}}
}}

The species was described by [[John Gould]] in December 1835 (but published in 1836) based on a specimen in the Zoological Society of London that had been obtained from [[Travancore|Travancore State]]. Gould noted that it was very similar to ''Brachypus dispar'' (now ''Rubigula dispar'') that had been described by Thomas Horsfield and placed the new species likewise in the genus ''Brachypus'' as ''B. gularis''.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30568695|page=186|journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London|volume=36| title=[Summary of meeting chaired by William Yarrell on December 8, 1835]|year=1836}}</ref> Viscount Walden suggested that this had already been described by [[Thomas C. Jerdon|Jerdon]] as ''Brachypus rubineus'' and called the "ruby-throated bulbul" (although this name was published later).<ref>{{cite journal|author=Viscount Walden |year=1866|title= [Letter on ''Brachypus gularis'', Gould, to the Editor.]|journal= Ibis |volume=8|issue=4|pages= 423–424|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8456265|doi=10.1111/j.1474-919x.1866.tb08615.x}}</ref> This was subsequently included as a subspecies of a larger number of similar bulbuls in the Asian region under a broadly circumscribed ''Pycnonotus melanicterus''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/checklistofbirds91960pete#page/228/mode/1up|page=229| title=Check-list of the birds of the World. Volume IX. |editor1=Mayr, Ernst| editor2=Greenway, James C. Jr.|year=1960| publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology |place=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref> With a resurgence in the application of the phylogenetic species concept, the isolated population in the [[Western Ghats]] of India was separated as the flame-throated bulbul. The crested populations in the [[Eastern Ghats]] and Himalayas that lack the red throat which were treated as subspecies ''flaviventris'' were also elevated into full species as ''[[Black-crested bulbul|Pycnonotus flaviventris]]''. ''Pycnonotus melanicterus'' in this newer and narrower circumscription followed by Pamela Rasmussen in  ''Birds of South Asia'' (2005) and the ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (2005) only included the Sri Lankan population which was referred to as the [[black-capped bulbul]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Fishpool, L. D. C.  |author2=  Tobias, J. A.  |year=2005|chapter=  Family Pycnonotidae (bulbuls).|pages=124–250 |editor1=J. del Hoyo|editor2= A. Elliott |editor3= D. A. Christie| title=Handbook of the birds of the world. Volume 10| place=Barcelona| publisher= Lynx Edicions}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| journal=Birding Asia| volume=8 |year=2007| pages=14–30|title=Species-level changes proposed for Asian birds, 2005–2006| author1=Collar, N.J. |author2=Pilgrim, J.D.| url= http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/cns26/NJC/Papers/Changes_Asian_taxonomy.pdf }}</ref> A 2017 study noted that the Western Ghats ''P. gularis'' and Sri Lankan ''P. melanicterus'' were closely related within a clade (the age of divergence from the common ancestor of its sister clades, however, has not been estimated in the study) that includes ''P. montis'', ''P. dispar'', and ''P. flaviventris'' leading to a placement of these species in a new genus ''Rubigula''.<ref name=ioc>{{BioRef|IOC|family=Pycnonotidae|version=Version 10.2|access-date=3 August 2020}}</ref><ref name=phylo>{{cite journal|last1=Shakya|first1=Subir B|last2=Sheldon|first2=Frederick H|year=2017|title=The phylogeny of the world's bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) inferred using a supermatrix approach|journal=Ibis|volume=159|issue=3|pages=498|doi=10.1111/ibi.12464|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Pycnonotus gularis (Karnataka).jpg|thumb|left|The white iris is distinctive]]

The flame-throated bulbul is about 18&nbsp;cm long with an olive-green back and yellow underparts, a squarish black head without a crest, an orange-red throat. The iris is white and contrasts with the dark head. The legs are brown and the gape is yellowish-pink. The bill is dark brown to black. The plumage of young birds has not been described.<ref name="hbk" />

==Distribution and habitat==

The flame-throated bulbul is found in the Western Ghats from southern Maharashtra and Goa southwards. It is a bird of forest that is only rarely seen at the edges of forests or inside coffee plantations.<ref name="hbk" />

==Behaviour and ecology==

The flame-throated bulbul keeps in small flocks and feeds on berries, including those of ''[[Lantana]]'' sp. It inhabits evergreen forests often along streams and valleys. The flame-throated bulbul feeds on fruit and insects,<ref name="hbk" /> sometimes in [[Mixed-species foraging flock|mixed species foraging flocks]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sridhar|first1=Hari|last2=Jordán|first2=Ferenc|last3=Shanker|first3=Kartik|date=1 September 2013|title=Species importance in a heterospecific foraging association network|journal=Oikos|language=en|volume=122|issue=9|pages=1325–1334|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00101.x|bibcode=2013Oikos.122.1325S |issn=1600-0706|url=http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/47518/1/Oikos_122-9_1325_2013.pdf}}</ref>

Populations appear to move seasonally within the Western Ghats.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Structure and composition of two bird communities in the southern Western Ghats| author1=Jayson, E.A.| author2=Mathew, D.N. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48603949| journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society| volume=99| year=2002| issue=1| pages=8–25}}</ref>

The breeding season is mostly from February to April. The nest is a small cup, placed in undergrowth from 1 to 3 metres from the ground level and is usually made of yellowing leaves bound with cobwebs and can easily be mistaken for a wind-blown accumulation of dry leaves.<ref name="hbk">{{cite book|pages=73–74| title=Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 6.|author1=Ali, Salim| author2=Ripley, S. Dillon| edition=2| publisher=Oxford University Press| place=New Delhi| year= 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| url= https://archive.org/stream/journalofbo5019511952bomb#page/33/mode/1up/|title=The Birds of Coorg. Part I. |author=Betts, F.N.|authorlink=Frederick Nicholson Betts|year=1951|journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |volume=50|issue=1|pages= 20–63}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Pycnonotus gularis}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q83024430|from2=Q12112548}}

[[Category:Rubigula|flame-throated bulbul]]
[[Category:Birds of South India]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of India]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1836|flame-throated bulbul]]