Flame-throated Bulbul Rubigula gularis Scientific name definitions

"This species approaches in colour the Turdus dispar, Horsf... a native of Java... I have only met with the ruby throated bulbul (sic) in the forests of Malabar, and even here it is rare; it frequents the more open spaces of the jungle, and generally prefers thickets in the neighbourhood of waters."—Thomas Caverhill Jerdon, 1839 (1 Jerdon, T. C. (1839). Catalogue of the birds of the peninsula of India, arranged according to the modern system of classification; with brief notes on their habits and geographical distribution, and description of new, doubtful and imperfectly described species. Madras Journal of Literature and Science X(25):234–269 Close : 246)

Most striking among sympatric bulbuls, the Flame-throated Bulbul has a yellow body, black head with very short crest, orange-red throat, and white iris. It was presented to the Zoological Society of London by John Gould in 1835, who described it as Brachypus gularis (2 Gould, J. (1836). Characters of several new species of insessorial birds, including a new genus (Stenorhynchus). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 3:185-188 Close ). The bird was initially considered a subspecies of the widespread Black-crested Bulbul (Rubigula flaviventris), then under the name Pycnonotus melanicterus gularis, but it is now recognized as a full species and reclassified as Rubigula gularis.

The Flame-throated Bulbul is endemic to the Western Ghats in India. It mostly occurs around the foothills, where it prefers semi-evergreen, moist-deciduous, and secondary forests, as well as sacred groves, and generally avoids wet evergreen forests. It frequents the more open spaces of the jungle and generally prefers thickets near water. This bulbul is not abundant, though it is locally common, and lives in small family groups (4–6 individuals).

It is a resident species, with possible seasonal movements in certain locations. With a clutch size of 2, it nests in undergrowth about 1–3 m off the ground. Yellowing leaves are bound to the cup-shaped nests with cobwebs and offer excellent camouflage; these nests can easily be mistaken for a wind-blown accumulation of dry leaves. Flame-throated Bulbul feeds on fruit and insects, sometimes in mixed-species foraging flocks. It is categorized as 'Least concern' in the IUCN Red list and 'Moderate' in State-of-India's-Bird concern categories. The population trend is listed as 'decreasing.'