Hypsipetes


Hypsipetes is a genus of bulbuls, songbirds in the family Pycnonotidae. Most of its species occur in tropical forests around the Indian Ocean. But while the genus is quite diverse in the Madagascar region at the western end of its range it does not reach the African mainland.
Most Hypsipetes bulbuls are dark greyish birds with orange or red bills and feet. The feathers on top of the head are slightly elongated and usually black, and can be erected to form a short and wispy crest.

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus Hypsipetes was introduced in 1831 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors with Hypsipetes psaroides as the type species. This taxon is now a subspecies of the black bulbul Hypsipetes leucocephalus psaroides. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek hupsi meaning "high" with petēs meaning "-flyer".

Species

The genus contains 26 species:
Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus Hypsipetes including: