In celebration of National Bird Day 2015, Barry Kent MacKay, Senior Program Associate for Born Free USA and lifelong bird enthusiast, is writing a special eight-part blog series in December and January where he will describe some interesting avian species. Below is the seventh installment.
Depending on some technical decisions concerning which species belong in the family, there are 138 species of bulbuls, and they are found scattered through much of Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia. About the size of a small jay, the straw-headed bulbul is the largest of the bulbuls, is one of the most colorful, and is gifted with a beautiful voice. Its range includes peninsular Malaysia, parts of Sumatra including Nias Island, and northern and central Borneo.[teaserbreak]
The term “bulbul” roughly translates into “Persian nightingale”: an allusion to the modest coloring and lovely voices that are typical of the family (although most species, including this one, are not found in Persia—now known as Iran—and they are not related to true nightingales). Many bulbuls have been greatly reduced in numbers, partly as a result of loss of viable habitat, to be sure—but also as victims of the domestic bird trade.
Sadly, the straw-headed bulbul has been reduced to a fraction of its former population size, and has been entirely eliminated from much of its former range. It is not enough for its beautifully rich, melodic voice to be heard along the banks of rivers and streams where, amid evergreen broadleaf foliage, the bird lives in the wild… People seem to need to cage them—to have the song close at hand—and, in doing so, have managed to drive the species ever closer to endangerment and extinction. Just a few short decades ago, it was common to abundant in many regions where it is now rare, or even missing. Its decline has been precipitous.
Sometimes, pairs of straw-headed bulbuls will sing duets (click here), each taking up a different part of the same song—and they seem to do so effortlessly. Recent research shows that the part of a songbird’s brain that helps it learn its songs corresponds with the part of the human brain that controls the learning of speech. We may never fully understand the entire “meaning” of birdsong, but it is necessary for the birds to establish territories and attract mates. For us, it is a gift, freely given—and yet, our species chooses to punish the birds for that gift by depriving them of their freedom.
Since the species is now fully protected, apart from habitat loss, its main threat is from poaching. The main market is domestic. They used to be worth about twenty dollars U.S. each, but they now bring in more than $1,300 per bird. The species was listed as “vulnerable” by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 1994, having already been extirpated from extensive parts of its former range. In 1997, it was listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). In 2010, it received full protection in peninsular Malaysia under the Wildlife Conservation Act. The Malaysian Borneo state of Sabah provided protection under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment of 1997, and the following year, it received full protection in Sarawak under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance of 1998. But, although now fully protected throughout its range, some birds are still illegally captured and smuggled into adjoining countries and sold on the black market.
These birds are named for the golden-yellow “straw” color of the head, with a jet black moustache strip and a white throat. The body is mainly a dull olive or grayish-olive color. The breast is gray, blending to a dull white belly. The front part of the bird is lightly streaked in white.
Like many members of the family, the straw-headed bulbul has a mixed diet of mostly fruit, including wild figs and berries, plus large insects and other invertebrates, as well as small lizards and other small vertebrate animals. Their nests are not tidy; they’re made of interwoven vegetation, placed in vines or ferns, above ground, and often very well-camouflaged. The parents are sometimes, perhaps normally, aided in raising their babies by other “extra pair adults,” which are bachelor birds who co-operate in community nurturing of dependent chicks. Each nest contains only two eggs. The straw-headed bulbul often moves about in groups of up to five birds, and can, in various parts of its range, be heard singing virtually any time of the year.
Will the species survive? Time will tell. Ten straw-headed bulbuls were found for sale in Thailand in 2010, in a store near the Malaysian border (the species having been wiped out in Thailand). Probably, the shift in threat is now more toward loss of habitat, due to a burgeoning population and continued urban sprawl along the riverbank habitat that the species favors. Due diligence against poaching and smuggling, more research into the behavior of the species, and protection of its riparian habitat may yet ensure its survival—albeit at a fraction of the numbers of those who once sang so boldly and beautifully amid the vines, mangroves, and shrubbery of southeast Asia.