Bulbuls | Pycnonotidae

Buulbuuls | Bulbules

Medium-sized songbirds with soft, loose, almost downy plumage, a short, slender and slightly decurved bill with stiff bristles at its base, and short, weak legs: bulbuls hardly walk, working through cover in hops instead. Long hair-like feathers grow on the nape, and many species can raise the crown feathers into a pointed crest. The diet is largely fruit, with blossom, nectar and insects added, which makes them among the most important seed dispersers in warm regions. They live in pairs or noisy parties along forest edges, in scrub, orchards and gardens, like to perch high and in the open, and deliver a short whistled or chattering phrase from there. The nest is a rather thin cup in the fork of a shrub or low tree, and both parents feed the young.