Species highlight

A free theme to this week's SMAP is perfect, since I wanted to do a post about a particular species; so the timing is just right.

I've said it before, as you get used to birdwatch and gain some knowledge of the different families of birds, you'll find yourself looking at an unknown species (which happens to me a ton when I travel abroad), but having an idea of what family/genus it might belong to, given the shape and size, behaviour, colours... and that's what happened in my trip to Morocco.

^{Common bulbul - Pycnonotus barbatus}

I had seen bulbuls before, but in a different continent, and as soon as I saw these guys I immediatly remembered them. And it wasn't hard to find the species, since it seems to be a common bird in these parts.

They don't stand out that much, given their plummage doesn't have any bright colours: white abdomen, brownish upper parts, black head and eye; but they are noisy, which makes them easy to spot, and they don't seem to be that shy.

I've seen them in multiple locations in Marrakesh, and only after seeing these photos I realised that almost all of them captured them with an open beak!

Although they were vocalizing most of the time, probably most of the photos with an open beak are the result of behaviour to try and regulate temperature, since these photos were taken in July, and it was crazy hot! Since they don't sweat, opening the beak is one of the ways to help cooling off.

It's always great to find new species, and this one wasn't an exception. I even found a fun fact, one of their common names is engole-malagueta, which translates to chilli swaller! I couldn't find out if they actually eat them or not, though.

Are there bulbuls in your part of the world? And are they noisy as well?

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