Nicobar Bulbul - Distribution, Ecology and Status

Distribution, Ecology and Status

It is endemic to the Nicobar Islands of India, where it only occurs in the central group, namely Bompoka, Camorta, Katchall, Nancowry, Teressa, Tillanchong and Trinkat; a supposed 19th century record from Pilo Milo in the southern group is nowadays generally dismissed.

Its natural habitats are subtropical and tropical moist lowland primary and secondary forest. It also visits plantations, rural gardens, and occasionally urban areas and grassland. Restricted to a few islands, it is threatened with extinction in the long-term future. In the early 1990s already, though the species was still found on every major island in its range, only single birds or families were usually seen except on Katchall and Teressa. Only in some places on the former it was still as common then as it used to be 100 years ago. At present, it manages to hold its own, but only barely, and habitat loss may have been severe enough to accelerate its decline to dangerous proportions. With altogether a few thousand adult birds remaining, it is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN.