Madagascar Bulbul

Madagascar Bulbul

Hypsipetes madagascariensis

Silhouette: PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~70% · Very likely
at Berenty Reserve

In 3 days >90%

180 Verified sightings at Berenty Reserve From 2019 to 2026
2,370 In all 4 parks
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Madagascar Bulbul

The Malagasy bulbul (Hypsipetes madagascariensis) is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found on Madagascar and other regional islands in the south-western Indian Ocean. The Malagasy bulbul was originally described in the genus Turdus. Alternative names for the Malagasy bulbul include the black bulbul, Madagascar black bulbul, and Madagascar bulbul. The alternate name 'black bulbul' should not be confused with the species of the same name, Hypsipetes leucocephalus, with which it was formerly considered as conspecific.

Data related to Hypsipetes madagascariensis at Wikispecies Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:43

Madagascar · 2025

© Joost van Bruggen · XC1079476 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:18

Madagascar · 2025

© Frank Lambert · XC1066180 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Uncertain0:15

Madagascar · 2021

© Ken Behrens · XC697807 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Mantadia National Park 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~90%
2 Ankarafantsika National Park 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~90%
3 Ranomafana National Park 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~80%
4 Berenty Reserve 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~70%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Antananarivo 🇲🇬 Madagascar
~40%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Madagascar Bulbul in Berenty Reserve?

Very likely

About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Bulbul sighting in Berenty Reserve on a given day, based on 180 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 63 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

What time of day is best to see a Madagascar Bulbul?

Between 6 and 9 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Madagascar Bulbul sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Madagascar Bulbul live in Berenty Reserve?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the Madagascar Bulbul that you can see in Berenty Reserve (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Crested Drongo (about 90%), Pied Crow (about 90%) and Madagascar Paradise-Flycatcher (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Madagascar Bulbul sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Madagascar Bulbul is recorded against all the birds logged in Berenty Reserve (180 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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