Rubigula

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Wikipedia

Rubigula
Black-crested bulbul (Rubigula flaviventris)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pycnonotidae
Genus: Rubigula
Blyth, 1845
Type species
Turdus dispar
(ruby-throated bulbul)
Horsfield, 1821
Synonyms

Ixodia Blyth, 1845

Rubigula is a genus of Asian passerine birds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae.

Taxonomy

The genus Rubigula was introduced in 1845 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth.[1] The type species was designated as the ruby-throated bulbul by George Robert Gray in 1855.[2][3] The name combines the Medieval Latin rubinus meaning "ruby" with Latin gula meaning "throat".[4]

This genus was formerly synonymized with the genus Pycnonotus. A molecular phylogenetic study of the bulbul family published in 2017 found that Pycnonotus was polyphyletic.[5] In the revision to the generic classification five species were moved from Pycnonotus to Rubigula.[6] In 2025 AviList merged the genus Ixodia into a more broadly defined Rubigula.[7]

Species

The genus contains eight species:[7]

ImageCommon nameScientific nameDistribution
Spectacled bulbulRubigula erythropthalmosMalay Peninsula, Sumatra and satellites, and Borneo
Grey-bellied bulbulRubigula cyaniventrisMalay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo
Scaly-breasted bulbulRubigula squamataMalay Peninsula to Borneo
Black-crested bulbulRubigula flaviventrisnorth, northeast India to Southeast Asia
Flame-throated bulbulRubigula gularishills of southwestern India (western Mysore to Kerala and Tamil Nadu)
Black-capped bulbulRubigula melanicteraSri Lanka
Ruby-throated bulbulRubigula disparSumatra, Java, and Bali
Bornean bulbulRubigula montishighlands of northern Borneo

References

  1. ↑ Blyth, Edward (1845). "Notices and descriptions of various new or little known species of birds (continued)". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 14, Part 2 (164): 546–602 [576].
  2. ↑ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 47.
  3. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 223.
  4. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 339. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ↑ Shakya, Subir B.; Sheldon, Frederick H. (2017). "The phylogeny of the world's bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) inferred using a supermatrix approach". Ibis. 159 (3): 498–509. doi:10.1111/ibi.12464.
  6. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2021). "Bulbuls". IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  7. 1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.