Animalia Life

Phyllastrephus icterinus
TAXONOMY
Trichophorus icterinus Bonaparte, 1850, Guinea.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Lesser icterine bulbul; French: Bulbul ictйrin; German: Zeisigbьlbьl; Spanish: Bulbul Icterino.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
5.9 in (15 cm); 0.5–0.8 oz (15–25 g). Top of head and upperparts olive green, uppertail rusty, rump feathers long and fluffy. Chin and throat sulfur yellow, breast and belly yellow washed with green. Reddish tail. Sexes alike. Juvenile resembles adult but upperparts greener and washed brownish breast and throat.
DISTRIBUTION
Endemic east central Africa; Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, and Zaire.
HABITAT
Forest, including patchy and swampy areas, plantations.
BEHAVIOR
Moves in family parties of three to five, up to 12. Group stays together by using nasal call. Group will defend territory and fight with other groups if confrontation occurs. Call a repeated “gur-guk,” or nasal “gur-gur-gaaa.” Will mob potential predators such as owls.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Mainly eats insects; often forages in mixed species flocks. Follows small mammals such as squirrels and antelopes, catching insects flushed out by mammals.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Territorial and monogamous, pairs staying together for several years. Nest a small cup of dry leaves held together by the fungus Marasmius, slung like a hammock in fork of branch. Usually two eggs, incubation 14 days, by female only. When surprised on nest, female will fall to ground and run to distract predator. Both parents feed young.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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