Mindoro bulbul

Mindoro bulbul
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Infraorder:	Passerides
Family:	Pycnonotidae
Genus:	Hypsipetes
Species:	H. mindorensis
Binomial name
Hypsipetes mindorensis (Steere, 1890)
Synonyms
Hypsipetes philippinus mindorensis Iole Mindorensis Ixos mindorensis Ixos philippinus mindorensis

The Mindoro bulbul (Hypsipetes mindorensis) is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae.

It is endemic to Mindoro in the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

EBird describes the bird as "A medium-sized bird of lowland and montane forest and more open wooded areas on Mindoro and Semirara. Dark brown on the upperparts and chest with a pale belly, a fairly long stout black bill, and a grayish head with faint streaks. The only other bulbul in its range is Yellow-vented, which has a white face. Mindoro Bulbul is noisy and conspicuous. Voice includes harsh grating calls and a slurred whistled melody."^[1]

The Mindoro bulbul was originally described in the genus Iole and has also been classified by some authorities as a separate species in the genus Ixos. Until 2010, it was considered to be a subspecies of the Philippine bulbul. It is differentiated by its voice, larger bill and generally darker plummage^[2][3]

This bird is a generalist feeding on fruits, flowers and insects. Usually found singly or in pairs foraging the understorey and the canopy.

It inhabits mainly tropical moist lowland forest but has been known to inhabit moist montane forest up to 2,000 meters above sea level, and has been to known to visit cultivated areas.^[4]

The International Union for Conservation of Nature does not yet recognize the Mindoro bulbul as its own species yet. It is generally believed that due to its tolerance for habitat and general commonness that this species is not threatened - making it the only Mindoro endemic bird that isn't threatened.

The forests of Mindoro threatened by habitat loss through legal and illegal logging, mining, road construction, slash-and-burn or kaingin and trapping for both food and the pet trade. By 1988, extensive deforestation on Mindoro had reduced forest cover to a mere 120km², of which only a small proportion is below this species's upper altitudinal limit. The lowland forest that does remain is highly fragmented. Slash-and-burn cultivation, occasional selective logging and rattan collection threaten the forest fragments that still support the species. Dynamite blasting for marble is an additional threat to forest at Puerto Galera. While the bulbul might be able to survive this habitat loss better, the other species may continue to suffer^[5]