Iole olivacea
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The buff-vented bulbul (Iole crypta) is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in south-eastern Myanmar, south-western Thailand, on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and nearby islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
It is threatened by habitat loss. The former scientific name, Iole olivacea Blyth, 1844, has now been ruled as permanently invalid by the IOC. Some authorities have classified the buff-vented bulbul in the genera Hypsipetes and Microscelis. Formerly, Charlotte's bulbul was considered as conspecific with the buff-vented bulbul until split by the IOC in 2017. Alternate names for the buff-vented bulbul include the crested olive bulbul, dull-brown bulbul and Finsch's olive bulbul. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 3 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Buff-vented Bulbul sighting in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary on a given day, based on 27 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 166th most-seen of the 231 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Buff-vented Bulbul in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Buff-vented Bulbul sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Buff-vented Bulbul sightings, Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Danum Valley Conservation Area (Malaysia, about 30%), Sepilok (Malaysia, about 20%) and Kinabalu Park (Malaysia, under 5%).
Same family: Pycnonotidae
The closest relatives of the Buff-vented Bulbul that you can see in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (family Pycnonotidae, Bulbuls) are Yellow-vented Bulbul (about 20%), Red-eyed Bulbul (about 20%) and Straw-headed Bulbul (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Buff-vented Bulbul is recorded against all the birds logged in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (27 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.
