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Both sexes of White-eared Bulbuls look alike. They have a black head and neck, except for pure-white patches on their cheeks/ear coverts. The rest of the front, from the chest to the belly, is light-grey. The vent is rich orange-yellow. The entire back and tail are brownish-grey, with a thin white terminal band on the tail. The dark eyes are surrounded by pale bare eye-rings. The slightly downcurved slender bill is dark-grey. The legs and feet are also dark-grey. Juvenile White-eared Bulbuls have a paler head than adults and grey ear coverts. Their vent is pale-yellow.

Twitcher's tip

Comparing the photos below with those of Yellow-vented Bulbuls, one can notice that the vent of the White-eared Bulbul has a deeper hue of yellow.

White-eared Bulbuls are no longer considered to be conspecific with the Himalayan Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucogenys).

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the White-eared Bulbul is available HERE .

There are two extant races of White-eared Bulbuls. All together, they populate an area spanning from the eastern Mediterranean coastline in the West to western India in the East. Although this is not shown in all field guides, White-eared Bulbuls, which are sedentary, are found in the near-coastal areas around both sides of the Persian Gulf, from Kuwait and the lowlands of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Iraq, along the North coast of Arabia and the South coast of Iraq and Iran into southern Pakistan and on to about the north-western quarter of India. Nominate race "leucotis" exists in southern Iran, southern Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-western India. The range of race "mesopotamia" extends from southern Iraq and south-western Iran to north-eastern Arabia.

In Arabia White-cheeked Bulbuls, race "mesopotamia", are found along a broad northern (near-)coastal strip.

However, note that, apart from a population in Bahrain, the rest, from Kuwait via eastern Saudi Arabia, the UAE and via Musandam into northern Oman, as far as Ras Al Hadd, on the north-eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula, and in some inland locations (oases) in the interior of Saudi Arabia, are considered to be introduced.

We have seen White-cheeked Bulbuls in an arboretum, where they preferably stayed in flowering trees and also in dense shrubs.

Race "mesopotamia"