Yellow-bellied greenbul

Chlorocichla flaviventris

Photo by Ian White (Flickr)

Common name:
yellow-bellied greenbul (en); tuta-amarelo (pt); bulbul à poitrine jaune (fr); bulbul de vientre amarillo (es); gelbbauchbülbül (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Pycnonotidae

Range:
This species is found in sub-Saharan Africa, from Angola and northern Namibia in the west, through southern D.R. Congo and Zambia and into Kenya, southern Somalia, Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa.

Size:
These birds are 20-22 cm long and weigh 32-52 g.

Habitat:
The yellow-bellied greenbul is found in tropical forests and scrublands, especially areas of thick undergrowth in clearings in riverine and coastal forests, but also in dry miombo and mopane savannas, rural gardens, mangroves and semi-arid scrublands.

Diet:
They mainly eat fruits, but also seeds, flowers and insects. They are also known to take ticks from mammals such as impalas.

Breeding:
Yellow-bellied greenbuls breed in September-March. The nest is a fragile, thin-walled cup built of tendrils, twigs, dry grass and other plant fibres, typically attached with spider web to the foliage of a sapling, scrub or creeper. The female lays 1-3 eggs, which she incubates alone for 14 days. The chicks are fed and brooded by both parents and fledge 16-18 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as widespread and generally common. The population in Mozambique has been estimated at 40.000 individuals, but represents only a small part of the global range. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.