Red-vented Bulbul - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Red-vented Bulbul was originally described by Linnaeus in 1766. Several populations of this widespread species have been named as subspecies (or races). The nominate race is found in southern India. The type locality of Pondicherry was designated by Erwin Stresemann. The race in the western part is intermedius and is found in Kashmir and Kohat down to the Salt Range and along the Himalayas to Kumaon. The race bengalensis is found in the Himalayas from Nepal east to Assam. South of these two forms are pallidus to the west south to Ahmednagar and saturatus along the east, south to the Godavari. There are no distinct boundaries to these racial forms and recent works do not recognize pallidus and saturatus (designated by Whistler & Kinnear, 1932 for the northeastern Peninsular India) but accept the desert form humayuni from Sindh and northwestern India, northeast Indian stanfordii (=stanfordi Deignan, 1949) and the Sri Lankan race haemorrhous (=haemorrhousus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) ). Race melanchimus is found in Southern Burma and northern Thailand.

Race chrysorrhoides is found in China. Two formerly designated races nigropileus in Southern Burma and burmanicus of Northern Burma are considered as hybrids.