Birds Around Us: Red-vented and Red Whiskered Bulbul

Symrna Darkmorph
Jun 15
3 min read

The Red-Vented Bulbul is one of the most common birds that you can see around you in New Delhi, India. It is a small beautiful bird with melodious calls and songs. It can easily be spotted in your neighbourhood park if you sit still and just look.

What's special about the Red-Vented Bulbul?

The red-vented bulbul is named after its red vent and its the Red-whiskered bulbul is named for its Red Whiskers; both of which are identification features. The red vented bulbul has a dark head and brownish contour feathers whereas a prominent crest can be noted in the red-whiskered bulbul. These birds are quite tolerant of humans and often makes Urban environments its home.They are common visitors to our Urban City Parks and are known for their calls that are a treat to hear. This is what has made the bulbuls a common subject of culture and romantic poetry and shayri.

Some of the poetic names for the bulbul reflect the magic of its song: hazar dastan, hazar avaz, or simply hazara suggests one who has a thousand melodies.

see source

The word "bulbul" comes from Persian. It seems its name was meant to sound like the bird's singing. Persian poets used this bird in their poems in the same way that other poets used the nightingale. The most common name for the bulbul bird was "kalsiri," which means "black-headed." The Persian word "bolbol" was even adopted into the Sanskrit language.

Jis chaman zar ka hai tu gul-e tar

The garden whose freshest rose you are

Bulbul us gulsitan ke hum bhi hain

We are the bulbuls of that garden too

~ Mir Taqi Mir’s verse

Though in Persian poetry, especially in a type called "ghazal," the bulbul bird and the rose flower are often used as important symbols. However, the persians were not the only ones mesmersised by the bulbul or bolbol. This idea of the "gul-o bulbul" (rose and bulbul) was very interesting to people in Victorian England. Oscar Wilde's sad story, "The Nightingale and the Rose," is a famous example of taking this "gul-o bulbul" idea and making it his own.

What do Red-vented Bulbuls eat?

Like other bulbuls, the red-vented bulbuls are frugivores meaning their diet consists of berries and other fruit along with small insects. eat fruits, berries, seeds, flower parts and nectar, seedlings, as well as insects.

Are Red-vented/Red-whiskered Bulbuls Native or Invasive species?

These birds are native to India and many other countries in South and Southeast Asia. Both the Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) and the Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) are invasive species in many regions outside their native range such as The Red vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer), is considered an extreme pest in New Caledonia and some areas of Europe. see source The Red-whiskered bulbul that is native to India, is also considered invasive in Hawaii.

How does the red-vented bulbul nest?

The nest of the Red-vented Bulbul is cup- shaped and constructed of twigs, rootlets, grasses and cobwebs, regrettably, plastic debris was also present. This species prefers nesting in shrubs and also in smaller trees in irrigated fields, at road-sides and near houses. Its eggs are small purple-ish coloured.

Want to know India's rarest birds? Check out This Book. (affiliate link)

Want to read Urdu Poetry? Check out This Book. (affiliate link)

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