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Simple Greenbul Chlorocichla simplex Scientific name definitions

Lincoln Fishpool and Joseph A. Tobias
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2005

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

c. 21 cm; male 41–54·5 g, female 40–49 g. A large greenbul with conspicuous white throat and white eyering. Has blackish lores, some indistinct paler streaking on cheeks and ear-coverts, contrasting white broken eyering broader above eye than below it; rest of head and whole of upperparts, including wings and tail, dark brown, tail and flight-feathers edged olive; throat and malar region white, breast and flanks light olive-brown, lower flanks washed buffy, centre of belly creamy white or yellowish-buff, under­tail-coverts buff; iris dark brown or reddish-brown; bill black, paler cutting edges; legs dark grey or bluish-slate. Distinguished from Atimastillas flavigula (of race soror) by contrasting eyering, dark eyes, overall darker coloration above, also by voice. Sexes alike, female on average smaller than male, with redder iris. Juvenile undescribed.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

SE Guinea-Bissau E to extreme SE South Sudan and W Uganda, S to N Angola and C & CE DRCongo.

Habitat

Thick bush of various sorts, including orchard-bush, dense shrubs in savanna, thickets, gallery forest, farmbush and forest edge in the forest zone and forest-savanna mosaic; avoids forest proper. Readily adapts to secondary growth around farmland, fallows, cassava fields, large clearings, village margins and other degraded habitats, but not along edges of logging roads in forest. Mainly lowlands, but recorded to 1500 m in Liberia.

Movement

Sedentary, at least in Gabon.

Diet and Foraging

Fruit, including particularly Solanum, also Rauwolfia, Trema, palms and red peppers; also seeds; also arthropods, such as alate termites (Isoptera), caterpillars, spiders (Araneae). Typically in pairs or small family groups; occasionally joins mixed-species flocks. Generally rather shy and skulking, staying within thick vegetation, and revealing its presence by its voice; will perch in the open at times. Territorial throughout year; defends area of 1–2 ha in Gabon, where present species, A. flavigula and C. falkensteini seem to exclude one another locally.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a subdued nasal chattering of 8–12 notes, starting quietly and increasing in volume, third note from last typically highest and loudest, “wido, wida-wit-do, wida-kwít-to-kwair”. Chattering, burry “kurra-kurra-kurra” thought to be contact call; also has scolding, nasal “churrk-churrk” or “wherr”, and short, clipped “kwit!”.

Breeding

Nesting recorded in Mar in Sierra Leone, Feb and Apr (also nest-building Jul, Dec) in Ghana, Jan and Jun–Sept in Nigeria, Jan, Mar, Jun–Sept and Dec in Cameroon, Sept–Feb (peak Jan, once Jul in unusual year) in Gabon, and Aug and Oct–Mar in DRCongo; birds in breeding condition Feb and Jun–Nov (fledglings Oct–Nov, independent young Dec–Feb) in Liberia and Sept–Dec and Feb in Central African Republic. Territorial. Nest a small, shallow cup, thin and compact but strong, made of twigs, rootlets, plant stems, dry grasses, vines and other fibrous matter, bound together with cobwebs and unlined, external diameter 8–11 cm, depth 8–11 cm, internal diameter 5–7 cm and cup depth 4 cm, placed 0·9–2 m above ground in fork of dense clump of bushes or saplings (native or introduced); of twelve nests in Gabon, eight built in Solanum and one each in Trema, Harungana, in middle of cassava crop and in ornamental hedge; elsewhere, nests recorded in Triumfetta. Clutch 2 eggs, sometimes 1; incubation by female only; no information on incubation and fledging periods. In Gabon, three eggs of 24 laid were infertile, and seven of eleven nests were robbed.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Widespread, and locally common to abundant. This species’ propensity for occupying anthropogenic habitats means that it is unlikely to become of conservation concern. Occurs in numerous national parks, including those of Sapo, in Liberia, Taï Forest, in Ivory Coast, Kakum, in Ghana, Cross River, in Nigeria, Korup, in Cameroon, Lopé, in Gabon, Nouabalé-Ndoki, in PRCongo, Virunga, in DRCongo, and Semliki, in Uganda.
Distribution of the Simple Greenbul - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
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  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Simple Greenbul

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Fishpool, L. and J. A. Tobias (2020). Simple Greenbul (Chlorocichla simplex), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.simgre1.01
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