Eastern Mountain Greenbul
(Olive-breasted Greenbul)
Arizelocichla nigriceps
(A. n. kikuyuensis)
Gatamaiyo Forest, Nakuru County, Kenya. October 2016.
Greenbuls are denizens of dense forest vegetation where there green and gray colors serve them well in hiding from predators and bird watchers alike. Because they tend not to fly away from their dense cover habitat it is clear that populations can become isolated and thus distinct over time. It becomes a matter of opinion as to how different populations should be before they are considered either separate species, subspecies or varieties. With subtle field marks separating them they offer a challenge to nature watchers to make correct identifications, but also to elucidate how the populations differ. Songs or calls may be the most useful for a field ornithologist.
Pycnonotidae -- Bulbul Family
Books:
- Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by Zimmerman et al.
- Birds of East Africa by Stevenson and Fanshawe