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coastal hill forest index
  On-line Guide to Chek Jawa
coastal hill forest
 
Straw-headed bulbul
Pycnonotus zeylanicus
Family Pcynonotidae		   click for enlarged image
 
Pulau Ubin is one of the few places in Singapore where you will have a good chance of seeing this rare bird in the wild. Shy and seldom seen, its powerful, musical warble is nonetheless often heard in Chek Jawa. Sometimes, two or three birds sing a bubbling chorus. Straw-headed bulbuls appear to prefer forest edges near water, such as streams, rivers and mangroves.

The Straw-headed bulbul is the largest bulbul in South-east Asia. It is a rather dull-coloured birds, with olive-brown upperparts and streaky underparts. It has an orangey cap, a black moustache and black stripe through and below the eye. The male and female look similar.

Bulbul food: Bulbuls eat mainly fruits although they will also snack on insects. They forage high in the trees.

Straw-headed baby: Straw-headed bulbuls breed in Singapore, building untidy, cup-shaped nests in trees. These are made of vines, small twigs and grass. Usually, two eggs are laid.

Human uses: The Straw-headed bulbul's glorious song has made it a target of poachers for the caged bird trade.

Status and threats: These birds are considered rare and vulnerable in Singapore and globally vulnerable to extinction due to poaching and habitat destruction.They are listed on CITES II and listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.
quick facts
About 30cm, often heard but rarely seen in the coastal hill forest
 
Links
Straw-headed Bulbul on the Forest Department of Sarawak website: fact sheet.
The Trade in Songbirds in East Kalimantan by Rajindra K. Puri on the International Institute for Asian Studies website: about the poaching of bulbuls for the caged bird trade

Other references
  • Strange, Morten, 2000. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Malaysia and Singapore. Periplus, Hong Kong. 398 pp.
  • Strange, Morten & Allan Jeyarajasingam, 1999. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Sun Tree Publishing Limited, Singapore. 258 pp.
  • Lim, Kim Seng and Dana Gardner, 1997. An Illustrated Field Guide to the Birds of Singapore. Sun Tree Publishing Limited, Singapore. 226 pp.
  • Davidson, G. W. H. & Chew Yen Fook, 1995. A Photographic Guide to Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. New Holland Publishers, UK. 144 pp.
  • Ng, P. K. L. & Y. C. Wee, 1994. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened Plants and Animals of Singapore. The Nature Society (Singapore), Singapore. 343 pp.
  • Madoc, G. C., 1947 (1992 4th ed). An Introduction to Malayan Birds. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. 227 pp.
 

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