• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Pycnonotus simplex has been split into Cream-vented Bulbul P. simplex and Cream-eyed Bulbul P. pseudosimplex after Shakya et al. (2019) discovered that white-eyed birds on Borneo hitherto considered variants of red-eyed P. simplex are genetically distinct and more closely related to Ashy-fronted Bulbul P. cinereifrons of Palawan, while Bornean P. simplex are sister to white-eyed P. simplex of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Since they are sympatric with red-eyed birds, white-eyed Bornean birds must constitute a species, P. pseudosimplex. 

Apart from the molecular difference the new form differs by its iris colour (score 3), ‘in being yellower on the throat and vent, creating greater contrast with the darker breast and flanks’ (1), and in seemingly small morphometric characters, with a shorter, shallower bill—when data on males (the paper does not discriminate by sex) are compared, P. pseudosimplex has a mean bill depth of 4.06 SD 0.31 (n=7) vs 4.66 SD 0.23 (n=5) resulting in an effect size of ₋2.21 (score 2).

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2019. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 4. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v4_Dec19.zip.
Shakya, S. B., Lim, H. C., Moyle, R. G., Rahman, M. A., Lakim, M., & Sheldon, F. H. 2019. A cryptic new species of bulbul from Borneo. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 139(1): 46-55.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2019	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	unset
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	112,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.7 years	-	-	-

Population justification: No population data is available for this species at present, although it is considered considerably rarer than the sympatric Cream-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus simplex (Shakya et al. 2019).

Trend justification: While the population trend has not been assessed directly, the population is thought to be in decline as a result of rapid ongoing deforestation and habitat loss (del Hoyo et al. 2005). Lowland forest has disappeared at a rapid rate in recent decades throughout much of the species's range in Borneo (Hansen et al. 2013, Fishpool and Tobias 2019, Global Forest Watch 2019). Its strict requirements for mature forest put this species at particular risk (Shakya et al. 2019).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Brunei	extant	native	yes
Indonesia	extant	native
Malaysia	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Malaysia	Klias peninsula
Malaysia	Lambir Hills National Park
Malaysia	Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary
Malaysia	Mulu - Buda Protected Area
Malaysia	Niah National Park
Malaysia	Similajau National Park

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Cream-eyed Bulbul Pycnonotus pseudosimplex. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/cream-eyed-bulbul-pycnonotus-pseudosimplex on 19/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 19/12/2024.