Order Passeriformes is the largest order of birds in the Class Aves. It contains over 140 families with 6.500 identified bird species world wide. They are also called perching birds. 3 toes point forward, 1 backwards called hallux and is long. This is called anisodactyl arrangement. This toe constellation makes it easier to hold on to a branch, twig, wire or blade of grass.

A further adaptation for perching is a tendon running on the rear side of the leg to the underside of the toes is attached to the muscle behind the Tibiotarsus (the large bone between femur and tarsometatarsus). This makes the feet curl automatically once the leg is bent and becomes stiff when landing on a branch. So they can sleep without falling down and using valuable energy. Bird foot

Passerines are mostly insectivorous or omnivorous meaning feeding on insects, small vertebrates, fruits, seeds and nectar. Omnivorous birds change to a more carnivorous diet during breeding season. Plant material has less protein which is required for the chicks to grow fast and strong.

The name Passeriformes derives from Greek – Passer = Sparrow, Formis = shape. They originated in the Southern Hemisphere around 60 Mio years ago.

Most Passerines have 12 tail feathers. The eggs are coloured in most species. The number of eggs vary from species to species. The chicks are altricial meaning they hedge blind, without feathers and are helpless. They have reflexes to sense when a parent is landing and open their beak wide to get fed. The beak is fringed with yellow skin to signal the feeding parent where to place food.

In the Family Pycnonotidae are Bulbuls, Greenbuls, Brownbuls, Leafloves and Bristlebills

166 species in 32 genera are spread from Africa as far as Japan.

Bulbuls and other members of the same family are slender birds with short necks, long tails and short rounded wings. The colour varies from grey to brown, greenish, yellow. The eye colour is from dark to yellow, while the rings around the eyes are also variable from species to species. Some species can raise their neck feathers to impress others.

Majority of Bulbuls are omnivorous. They feed on insects, fruits, seeds, nectar and even small vertebrates. Most feed dominantly on fruits and seeds and supplement food with insects. I often observe the Dark-capped Bulbuls in my garden hunting butterflies in flight or catching different insects on the ground.

Members of the family Pycnonotidae are monogamous. The exeption is the Yellow-whiskered Greenbul. It appears to be polygamous and engages in lekking. This means several males gather at one place and display in competition. The females observe these males and chose their partner.

Most Bulbul species are quite tolerant to the habitat. They can thrive in disturbed areas, gardens, open areas and forest edges. Some species living in rain forests are under pressure from pet trade and habitat destruction.

Greenbuls like leaved forest and are not always easy to spot.

Many species are split into subspecies. Depending on the author some are treated as full species. Changes are made every now and then.

To give you as actual information as possible we use Avibase, the books “Birds of Africa South of the Sahara”, “Birds of East Africa”, “Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania”. Then we put the most characteristic information to the photo.

You can also follow us on Facebook “Bird photography Safaris Kenya” and see the numerous species as well as the beautiful photos from Lorenzo Barelli. Click on the photo for larger view. The names of the photographers are on the photo and in the text. Without the generosity of several amazing bird photographers it had not been possible to create the pages with so many illustrated bird species. Those photos without name are from Elvira Wolfer.

Here you find samples of our birding safaris. Some below listed species are endemic and one needs to know the exact locations where to find them. We know the spots and can generate the journey to see several of these special Greenbuls, Brownbuls and Leaflove species.