The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia Encyclopedia World Factbook American Heritage Coll. Bulbuls range in size from 6 in. A common Asian species, the red-whiskered bulbul, Pycnonotus jocosus, is easily tamed and is popular as a cage bird.
Bulbuls feed mainly on fruits and berries and sometimes do crop damage.
They build cleverly concealed cup-shaped grass nests, in which the female lays from three to five eggs per clutch. Both parents brood the nestlings. Bulbuls are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Pycnonotidae. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.