Pulau Ubin, Singapore. July 2018.
Pyconotus zeylanicus
I first spotted this bulbul when I was scouting in Pulau Ubin for birds. I did not know such a bulbul existed. The orange head caught my eyes momentarily as it flew away from me. On my next trip, I found two adults at the same area. One made a loud call when it spotted me as if to warn others in the area. These bulbuls are shy of humans and would do their best to stay away from one.
I waited patiently for an hour in the shade for it to become used to my presence. However, they are always on alert. Eventually, I managed to get a good set of photos. I wished the birds were not to bothered as I meant no harm. Out in the field, I am sweating and the camera is weighing my arms down. I wanted to stay longer but I was out for too long and the mid-afternoon sun is now beating on my back.
On the large screen of my computer, I realised this is a very beautiful bird. My first thought was that it looked like a tiger. Fierce facial feature and it has a black stripe running through the eye on an orange head. Perhaps it was trying to make itself fierce to scare me away. It has an olive wing, tail and rump like the olive-winged bulbul. The breast and belly has streaks of white on grey feathers. The vent is yellow like the yellow-vented bulbul. It is comparatively larger than the other bulbuls in Singapore.