Family Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae)
Least Concern
Crested Finchbill (Spizixos canifrons)
Taxonomy
French: Bulbul à gros bec German: Finkenbülbül Spanish: Bulbul picogrueso
Taxonomy:
Sp[izixos]. canifrons
Blyth
, 1845,Cherrapunji, Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India
.
Subspecies and Distribution
S. c. canifrons
Blyth, 1845 – NE India (Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, possibly also NE Arunachal Pradesh) and W Myanmar.
S. c. ingrami
Bangs & J. C. Phillips, 1914 – E Myanmar, S China (SW Sichuan, Yunnan, SW Guizhou), NW Thailand, N Laos and NW Vietnam (W Tonkin).
Descriptive notes
19–22 cm; 44 g. Medium-large, noisy, conspicuous bulbul with short, conical bill. Most of head is dark grey, forehead pale grey, chin, throat, mask and rear crown... read more
Voice
Dry, bubbling, trilled song described as “purr-purr-prruit-prruit-prruit”, also a loud... read more
Habitat
Open and stunted evergreen and deciduous forest, montane scrub, secondary growth and grasses; fond... read more
Food and feeding
Feeds on seeds (e.g. millet, grass), beans, peas, various types of fruit (e.g. Leucospectrum in Myanmar); also insects, including... read more
Breeding
Mar–Jul; most pairs in Chin Hills (NW Myanmar) had nestlings by late Apr. Apparently breeds co-operatively, although evidence rather... read more
Movements
Resident; does not usually descend to lower altitudes in harsh weather, but has been recorded down... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Fairly common in highlands of Myanmar and N Thailand, but scarce in China. Nominate race possibly occurs also in SE Bangladesh (reported from... read more
Placed in genus Pycnonotus by some authors#R. Proposed races nobilis (Assam, in NE India) and laotianus (Laos) considered too poorly differentiated to warrant recognition, and thus merged into, respectively, nominate and ingrami. Two subspecies recognized.