Red-vented Bulbul Invasion

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle Sep 21, 2006

New Zealand is dealing with its second invasion of Red-vented Bulbuls. In 2005, two of the birds were identified in Auckland and biosecurity New Zealand has been chasing them ever since. Half a century ago, New Zealanders learned that persistence does pay off - some birds of the same species were released from a visiting ship and established themselves near Auckland. It took five years to eradicate them.

The bulbuls (Family Pycnonotidae) include 140 species, some of which may more correctly belong with the babblers. Bulbuls are not very big, ranging in length from 13 to 28 cm (5 to 11 in). They eat mainly fruit and other plant parts, and insects, and build cup-like nests of leaves and twigs, grasses, fungi and other materials in the forks of trees.

The Red-vented Bulbul is native to southern Asia. It is about the size of a starling, with a dark back, white breast, black crest, and a bright patch of red under its tail. Like others of its family it eats insects and fruit, and can make itself extremely unpopular in berry growing areas. In New Zealand, the fear is that the bulbuls would damage gardens and crops, and compete for food with native birds.

Red-vented bulbuls have long been popular cage birds, which explains why they turn up frequently outside their native range. Accidentally or illegally introduced to O'ahu and Fiji, the species is a pest in gardens and fruit growing areas, and threatens orchids by eating the buds. It is now recognized as an invasive species: loved in captivity, despised in the wild wherever it doesn't belong.

Sources:

Red-vented bulbul - Pycnonotus cafer.

Christopher Perrins Ed. Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. New York: Firefly, 2003.