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Pycnonotidae
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- Green-tailed Bristlebill
- Green-tailed Bristlebill
- Green-tailed Bristlebill
- Green-tailed Bristlebill
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Green-tailed Bristlebill Bleda eximius 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

21·5–23 cm; male 46–52·5 g, female 42–46·5 g. Stocky, handsome bulbul, with strong bill, well-developed rictal bristles. Side of face is olive-green, darker stripe from base of bill down side of throat, sweeping up onto lower rear edge of ear-coverts; lores dull olive-yellow, half-moon of blue-grey skin above eye (widest behind eye), small feathered yellowish postocular spot; uniform olive-green above, including tail, except for narrow yellow tips of outer three pairs of rectrices, extent of yellow greatest (c. 10 mm) on outer pair and decreasing inwards; bright rich yellow below, except for olive wash on breast side and flanks; iris chestnut-brown; bill dark blue-grey, paler or bluish below; legs whitish-flesh, tinged blue. Distinguished from B. syndactylus by yellow-tipped green tail, and from B. canicapillus by green head and neck, bare skin around eye, yellowish lores, narrower yellow tail tips, from both also by voice. Sexes alike, female on average smaller than male. Juvenile undescribed.

Systematics History

Formerly treated as conspecific with B. notatus (with ugandae), but acoustic and morphological studies indicate that the two are separate species (taxonomic confusion resulted in uncertainty over which of the two was involved in published observations in some of the earlier literature); present treatment strongly supported by recent genetic data (1). Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Sierra Leone E to SW Ghana.

Habitat

Lowland evergreen and semi-deciduous forest and older secondary forest; rarely to 1450 m in Liberia.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Arthropods, including beetles (Coleoptera), ants (Hymenoptera), caterpillars, spiders (Araneae) and millipedes (Diplopoda); also small frogs. Singly or in pairs; often joins mixed-species parties, and regularly attends Dorylus ant swarms. Very shy and unobtrusive; forages at or near ground level, rarely above 3 m.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a series of pure, vibrant whistled notes, “hee-huu-huu-hu-heeu”, rather similar in tone to those of B. syndactylus. Calls include abrupt, nasal “kyop”, sometimes followed by fast “kiuwkiuwkiuwkiuwkiu”.

Breeding

In Liberia, fledgling observed in Oct, peak vocal activity Aug–Oct and birds in breeding condition in Jun–Aug, Oct and Dec; in breeding condition in Sept in Ivory Coast. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife NT Near Threatened

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Upper Guinea Forests EBA. Generally rare throughout its range; locally common in Liberia. The least common bristlebill within the region; certainly the least vocal, which probably results in its being under-recorded; most often detected through use of mist-nets. Forest habitat in region is subject to logging and to consequent settlement and smallholder agriculture. Occurs in several protected areas, including Western Area Peninsula Non-hunting Forest Reserve, in Sierra Leone, Sapo National Park, in Liberia, Nimba Nature Reserve, in Guinea, Taï Forest National Park, in Ivory Coast, and Kakum National Park, in Ghana.

Distribution of the Green-tailed Bristlebill - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Green-tailed Bristlebill

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Fishpool, L. and J. A. Tobias (2020). Green-tailed Bristlebill (Bleda eximius), 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.gntbri1.01
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