Red-Vented Bulbuls

 Bulbul, any of about 140 species of birds of the family Pycnonotidae (order Passeriformes) of Africa and Asia, including some called greenbuls and brownbuls. Members range in size from 14 to 28 cm (5.5 to 11 inches) long. They are active, noisy, plain-colored birds that sometimes damage orchards.

                                                     

Red - Vented Bulbul

 Representative of the 47 species of the genus Pycnonotus is the African bulbul (P. barbatus, including P. xanthopygos and P. tricolor), an 18-cm (7-inch) brownish gray bird. Others are the red-whiskered bulbul (P. jocosus, sometimes Otocompsa jocosa), which is indigenous from India to southern China, and the red-vented bulbul (P., sometimes Molpastes, cafer) of Pakistan to Java (natively) and the Fiji islands (by introduction). 

                                               

red-whiskered bulbul

The 22 species of Phyllastrephus are common in tropical Africa. Finch-billed bulbuls (Spizixos) occur in southeastern Asia. The white-throated bulbul (Criniger flaveolus) ranges from the Himalayas to Bali. One of the larger species, 25 cm (10 inches) long, is the black bulbul (Hypsipetes, sometimes Microscelis, madagascariensis) of Madagascar, Indian Ocean islands, and southern Asia east to Taiwan; it has gray and black-and-white races.

Red-Vented Bulbuls inhabit a huge range that extends from India east to Vietnam and south to Java; they have also been introduced to Hawaii and many other places.  They inhabit open woodlands, scrub, farms, villages and cities, pairing off while breeding but otherwise going about in small groups.

                                            

Among the most readily available of their 120+ relatives, Red-Vented Bulbuls have a subtle beauty.  Their plumage is a pleasing mix of light to chocolate browns, tan, white and black, with a purple-tinged red patch at the vent.  When excited, angry or otherwise stimulated, bulbuls raise the head feathers into a crest, which is most amusing to behold.

Keeping Red-Vented Bulbuls

In my opinion, the Red-Vented Bulbul’s chief selling point is what can only be described as a “friendly personality”.  As long as they are not crowded or stressed, Red-Vented Bulbuls are very curious about people – I was able to induce several to feed from my hand in a very short time.  They really do make the most engaging pets, and in parts of Asia are kept and treated much as are parrots.

Unlike many softbills, Red-Vented Bulbuls do fine in a large indoor cage but, given their size (8 inches) and high level of activity, they really come into their own in an outdoor or indoor aviary.

Captive Diets

These little fellows are quite hardy and fare well on a high-quality insectivorous bird food  into which has been mixed a bit of Softbill Select and Egg Food.  Hard boiled egg and some cooked ground beef should be offered regularly.

However, a highly varied diet, packed with insects and other invertebrates, is essential if you want to keep your birds in peak color and breeding condition.  I

Wild and Canned Invertebrates

Red-Vented Bulbuls relish grasshoppers, katydids, crickets, spiders, sow bugs, beetles, flies, termites, moths, mealworms, waxworms, fly larvae, silkworms – almost any invertebrate, in other words! 

Canned Invertebrates marketed for use with captive reptiles and amphibians are a convenient means of increasing the nutritional content of bulbul diets.

Dried Shrimp, a food favored by old-time bird keepers for insectivorous birds of all types, should also be offered.