Brown-eared Bulbul

The Brown-eared Bulbul is a large, long-tailed songbird with mostly grey plumage, a shaggy, slightly crested crown, and a conspicuous chestnut-brown patch on the ear coverts that gives the species its name. The underparts show fine white spotting or streaking on a grey wash, and the wings and tail are darker grey-brown.

One of the most familiar and vocal birds across much of Japan and neighboring regions, it is equally at home in deep forest and busy city parks, where its loud, squealing calls are a near-constant backdrop, especially in fruiting trees during autumn and winter.

Key field marks

• Overall grey body with a shaggy, spiky crest
• Chestnut-brown ear patch on the side of the head
• Fine whitish spotting or streaking on the breast
• Long tail and somewhat hunched, large-headed silhouette

Similar species

• No other bulbul in its range combines the grey body with a chestnut ear patch, making it fairly distinctive.
• Light-vented Bulbul (Chinese Bulbul) is smaller, has a black cap with a white patch, and lacks the chestnut ear covert.

Habitat

Uses a very wide range of wooded habitats, from mountain forests to lowland woodland, gardens, orchards, and urban parks with fruiting or flowering trees.

Range

Widespread across Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, and the northern Philippines.

Migration

Northern and montane populations move to lower elevations or milder areas in winter, sometimes forming large, conspicuous migrating flocks, while many populations are resident.

Behavior

Bold, active, and often gregarious outside the breeding season, gathering in noisy flocks at fruiting or flowering trees; readily adapts to human-altered landscapes.

Voice

A loud, harsh, squealing "pee-yoh" or "hee-yo" call, along with a variety of other raucous, far-carrying notes.

Feeding

Feeds on fruit and berries, flower nectar (which it laps with a brush-tipped tongue), and insects, switching seasonally as availability changes.

Nesting

Builds a cup nest of twigs, grass, and moss in a tree or shrub; lays 3-5 pale eggs with reddish-brown speckling.