Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster)
Order: PASSERIFORMES
Family: PYCNONOTIDAE Bulbuls
Scientific name: Pycnonotus aurigaster
English name: Sooty-headed Bulbul
Characteristic: Size 20 cm. Recognized at once by having a short black crest; black face and crown contrasting sharply with pale cheek patch; under tail coverts can be yellow or red. Our population is the subspecies with yellow under tail coverts.
Distribution: Southern Chian, Southeast Asia to Java and Bali.
Habitat: Living in open grounds, grass fields, agricultural areas, from the plain to the altitude of 1,800 m. In Sakaerat area, it can be seen in all forest types, more abundantly in dry diptercocarp forest.
Habit: Keeping in flocks. Its usual diets include fruits, worms, insects; dealing with a small-sized fruit, it will be plucked and swallowed wholely; but with a large fruit, such as rose apples papayas, mangos, it will take it piece by piece. For animal preys, it hunts both from the plants and on the ground. Breeding time is from March to June; when it builds a cup-shaped nest among branches of trees, bushes or bamboo clumps. A clutch of 2-3 eggs of pinkish pale colour, dotted all over with purplish brown markings, will be laid. They need an incubation period of 14 days.
Status: Common resident in Sakaerat forest, where occupied by birds of the subspecies thais with yellow under tail coverts. It is protected by local wildlife law as a protected wild animal.
