Pycnonotus melanicterus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The black-capped bulbul (Rubigula melanictera), or black-headed yellow bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. The black-capped bulbul was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the flycatchers in the genus Muscicapa and coined the binomial name Muscicapa melanictera. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" with ikteros meaning "jaundice-yellow". Gmelin based his description on the "yellow-breasted fly-catcher" from Sri Lanka that had been described and illustrated in 1776 by the English naturalist Peter Brown.
The black-capped bulbul was formerly placed in the genus Pycnonotus. A molecular phylogenetic study of the bulbul family published in 2017 found that Pycnonotus was polyphyletic. In the revision to the generic classification the black-capped bulbul and four other species were moved from Pycnonotus to Rubigula.
Until 2008, the black-capped bulbul was considered as conspecific with the black-crested, ruby-throated, flame-throated and Bornean bulbuls. Some authorities... Wikipedia →
Recording0:22
Sri Lanka · 2024
© Edmundas Greimas · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Edward Youde Aviary | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Bulbul sighting in Yala National Park on a given day, based on 37 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 155th most-seen of the 220 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-capped Bulbul in Yala National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–June and October–February, the lowest months. That is one of Yala National Park's driest months, with about 50 mm of rain against 340 mm in November.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-capped Bulbul sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Black-capped Bulbul sightings, Yala National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka, about 60%), Minneriya National Park (Sri Lanka, about 20%) and Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-capped Bulbul is recorded against all the birds logged in Yala National Park (37 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.
