Terrestrial Brownbul Phyllastrephus terrestris Scientific name definitions

20–22 cm, 33–47 g (nominate); 17–19 cm, male 29·5–44 g, female 24·5–38 g (intermedius); 17–19 cm, male 31–40 g, female 25–34 g (suahelicus). A large brown and white bulbul. Nominate race has ill-defined blackish line from lores to behind eye, olive-brown cheeks and ear-coverts with some paler streaking, narrow, relatively inconspicuous whitish broken eyering; top of head and upperparts, including wings, dark olive-brown, lower back to uppertail-coverts and tail warm gingery brown; throat white, upper breast and flanks olive-brown, lower breast and belly creamy, lower flanks and undertail-coverts buffy olive; iris red, red-brown or golden-brown; bill blackish-horn, paler lower mandible and cutting edges; legs slate-grey to silvery grey or brownish-horn. Differs from P. strepitans in duller, more olive-tinged upperparts, lacking reddish tones, and paler legs. Sexes alike, female on average smaller than male. Juvenile is somewhat paler and brighter. Race <em>intermedius</em> is smaller than nominate, has paler, brownish-olive upperparts, rusty-tinged brown rump, uppertail-coverts and tail, paler below, side of breast and flanks less contrasting, lower breast and belly white; suahelicus is same size as previous, but differs in having flanks browner, less grey, white underparts with faint buffy wash, upperparts with slight reddish wash, rump and tail slightly darker red, legs pale greyish-lavender, greyish-pink or light purplish-grey.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Variety of thickly vegetated habitats, including evergreen forest (mostly lowland and coastal, occasionally montane), riparian forest, riverine bush, thickets, thick scrub, dense woodland and abandoned cultivation. From sea-level to 1500 m in South Africa (KwaZulu Natal); to 1750 m, exceptionally 2050 m, in Malawi, and 1400 m in Kenya.

Thought to be largely sedentary; of 62 individuals ringed in Zimbabwe, 38 recaptured at same place c. 7–8 times. Suspected that birds at highest altitudes in Malawi (2050 m) and Zimbabwe are wanderers.

Arthropods , particularly ants (Hymentoptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), termites (Isoptera); also gastropods, small lizards; some fruit and seeds. Usually found in small groups; attends Dorylus ant swarms, and joins mixed-species flocks. Skulking and often hard to see, generally staying within cover; members of group cross open spaces reluctantly, one by one. Generally at or near ground level, where scratches about in leaf litter with the bill and feet and probes into vegetable debris. Also forages in bunches of dead leaves in creeper tangles to height of 7–12 m. Frequently flicks both wings together, combined with rapid tail-pumping. Has been recorded as gleaning ticks off red duiker (Cephalophus natalensis).

Song a rough chattering of 4–10 low, burry, husky notes, all on one pitch (lower than that of P. strepitans), e.g. “chrrrrk, chrrk-chrrk, chrrrrk”, “tchr tchr tcheerr tcheerr tchr tchr”, or similar; intervals between phrases 4–10 seconds, sometimes punctuated by quiet, conversational “chut” or “chudut”. When foraging, a continuous chattering of harsh churring notes, e.g. “prrrp-prrrp-prrrp-prrrrp”, “warrarak-warra” or “wark-wark wárk”; foraging pair may from time to time break into rough duet, the churring notes speeding up and rising in pitch to become a short, harsh trill interspersed with some pure, shrill notes.

Nesting recorded in Jan and Aug in Kenya, Oct–Apr (mainly Nov–Jan) in Zambia, Sept and Dec–Apr (mainly Dec–Feb) in Malawi, Oct–Apr in Mozambique, Sept–Feb and Apr (mainly Nov–Dec) in Zimbabwe, Oct and Dec in Botswana and Oct–Jan in South Africa; birds in breeding condition in Nov–Dec in Angola; possibly double-brooded. Monogamous. Solitary nester; territorial. Nest, reportedly built by both sexes, a shallow, flimsy and untidy cup of dark twigs, skeletonized leaves, dark stringy tendrils, roots, bark, moss and lichen, lined with rootlets, fine fibres and a few leaves, external diameter 8·5–9 cm, depth 3·5–6 cm, internal diameter 5–6·5 cm, depth 2–3 cm; usually 1–2 m above ground on branch or slung in fork, usually in dark tangle near edge of bush or thicket; nests in successive years built within c. 1–2 m of previous year’s site. Clutch 1–4 eggs, usually 2; incubation by both sexes, period 13 days; chicks fed by both parents, at one nest only one adult seen to brood very young chicks (for periods of up to half an hour between foraging trips); no information on duration of nestling period.

Not globally threatened. Generally common, but local in parts of its range. Estimated densities in Swaziland 3 birds/100 ha in acacia (Acacia) savanna, 19 birds/100 ha in broadleaf woodland and 330 birds/100 ha in riverine forest; in Knysna Forest, in South Africa, average 4·3 birds/24·5ha over a five-year period; 17 birds/100 ha in acacia woodland in S Mozambique, where population for the region thought to exceed 100,000 individuals. Well represented in protected areas.