Greenbul

The greenbuls and bristlebills are a group of birds within the bulbul family Pycnonotidae, found only within Africa. They are all largely drab olive-green above, and paler below, with few distinguishing features.

The "aberrant greenbuls" of the genera Bernieria and Xanthomixis are actually Malagasy warblers (Cibois et al. 2001). To recognize this, they are also called Bernieria and tetrakas rather than greenbuls. Likewise, the Golden Greenbul (Calyptocichla serina) is not a typical greenbul, but apparently the representative of a distinct and ancient lineage of bulbuls, which might include the Black-collared Bulbul, Neolestes torquatus (Moyle & Marks 2006).

• Genus Phyllastrephus
  • Leaf-love Greenbul, Phyllastrephus scandens
  • Cabanis' Greenbul, Phyllastrephus cabanisi
  • Fischer's Greenbul, Phyllastrephus fischeri
  • Placid Greenbul, Phyllastrephus placidus
  • Terrestrial Brownbul, Phyllastrephus terrestris
  • Northern Brownbul, Phyllastrephus strepitans
  • Pale-olive Greenbul, Phyllastrephus fulviventris
  • Gray-olive Greenbul, Phyllastrephus cerviniventris
  • Baumann's Greenbul, Phyllastrephus baumanni
  • Toro Olive Greenbul, Phyllastrephus hypochloris
  • Cameroon Olive Greenbul, Phyllastrephus poensis
  • Sassi's Greenbul, Phyllastrephus lorenzi
  • Yellow-streaked Bulbul, Phyllastrephus flavostriatus
  • Grey-headed Greenbul, Phyllastrephus poliocephalus
  • Tiny Greenbul, Phyllastrephus debilis
  • White-throated Greenbul, Phyllastrephus albigularis
  • Icterine Greenbul, Phyllastrephus icterinus
  • Liberian Greenbul, Phyllastrephus leucolepis
  • Xavier's Greenbul, Phyllastrephus xavieri

• Genus Andropadus
  • Cameroon Greenbul or Cameroon Mountain Greenbul, Andropadus montanus
  • Shelley's Greenbul, Andropadus masukuensis
  • Little Greenbul, Andropadus virens
  • Grey Greenbul, Andropadus gracilis
  • Ansorge's Greenbul, Andropadus ansorgei
  • Plain Greenbul, Andropadus curvirostris
  • Slender-billed Greenbul, Andropadus gracilirostris
  • Sombre Greenbul, Andropadus importunus
  • Yellow-whiskered Greenbul or Yellow-whiskered Bulbul, Andropadus latirostris
  • Western Greenbul, Andropadus tephrolaemus
  • Mountain Greenbul or Eastern Mountain Greenbul, Andropadus nigriceps
    • Green-throated Greenbul, Andropadus (nigriceps) chlorigula
  • Stripe-cheeked Greenbul or Stripe-cheeked Bulbul, Andropadus milanjensis

• Genus Criniger
  • Eastern Bearded Greenbul, Criniger chloronotus
  • Western Bearded Greenbul, Criniger barbatus
  • White-bearded Greenbul, Criniger ndussumensis
  • Red-tailed Greenbul, Criniger calurus
  • Yellow-bearded Greenbul, Criniger olivaceus

• Genus Thescelocichla
  • Swamp Greenbul, Thescelocichla leucopleura

• Genus Chlorocichla
  • Simple Greenbul, Chlorocichla simplex
  • Yellow-throated Greenbul, Chlorocichla flavicollis
  • Yellow-necked Greenbul, Chlorocichla falkensteini
  • Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Chlorocichla flaviventris
  • Joyful Greenbul, Chlorocichla laetissima
  • Prigogine's Greenbul, Chlorocichla prigoginei

• Genus Ixonotus - tentatively placed here
  • Spotted Greenbul, Ixonotus guttatus

• Genus Baeopogon
  • Honeyguide Greenbul, Baeopogon indicator
  • Sjostedt's Greenbul, Baeopogon clamans

• Genus Bleda
  • Common Bristlebill, Bleda syndactyla
  • Green-tailed Bristlebill, Bleda eximia
  • Grey-headed Bristlebill, Bleda canicapilla

References

• Cibois, Alice; Slikas, Beth; Schulenberg, Thomas S. & Pasquet, Eric (2001): An endemic radiation of Malagasy songbirds is revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Evolution 55(6): 1198–1206. DOI:10.1554/0014-3820(2001)055[1198:AEROMS]2.0.CO;2 PDF fulltext

• Moyle, Robert G. & Marks, Ben D. (2006): Phylogenetic relationships of the bulbuls (Aves: Pycnonotidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40(3): pp. 687–695. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.04.015 (HTML abstract)