Brown-Eared Bulbul

Hypsipetes amaurotis

Also known as: Chestnut-Eared Bulbul

About This Species

This large, grey-brown bulbul is a familiar and vocal presence in woodland, parks, and gardens across Japan and neighbouring parts of East Asia, often announcing itself with loud, harsh, cat-like calls well before it comes into view. Look for it perched conspicuously in treetops or flying in loose, noisy flocks, especially in autumn when large numbers migrate in visible streams across straits and headlands. Autumn migration watch-points on coastal capes offer a particularly dramatic way to see this species in numbers.

Ethical Viewing Guidelines

Because it is bold and often approaches gardens and feeders on its own, a comfortable few metres of distance is normally all that is needed to watch it well without any special caution.
Protection under wildlife law varies among the countries in its range across East Asia, so local rules should be checked rather than assumed, though this is a common and adaptable species with no special conservation concern.
Avoiding deliberate feeding at close range keeps encounters natural rather than habituated.

LCAvesPasseriformesPycnonotidae

Seasonal Activity

404,645 sightings · 2000–2026

Citizen science records via GBIF

All monthsThis month

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pycnonotidae

Photo

CC-BY-4.0

Occurrence data from GBIF.