Red-Whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)

I first came across these curious and festive-looking birds while birding at the LA County Arboretum back in 2002. They were especially abundant around the Tule Pond area, flitting back and forth between the trees and very hard to photograph. They looked so different from any native bird that I had ever seen or read about before, that it took me awhile to finally ID them since they weren't listed in any of my field guides for North American birds. They were apparently first sighted in 1968 in very small numbers at the gardens of the Huntington Library in San Marino. I recently read in a 1985 LA Times article entitled Bird Wins Reprieve in Battle of the Bulbul, that California's Dept. of Food & Agriculture officials tried to extirpate the species, which they deemed a pest to fruit crops, by having them shot. Whoa! This apparently didn't go over well with the director of the Huntington, who forbade officials to enter the grounds to shoot the birds on the property. So, the birds won reprieve until further research could determine whether or not these guys were really the pests they were made out to be. I guess not, because, fast forward to 2002 when I first saw them at the Arboretum, they were still and around and apparently thriving in localized populations. 

Here's the full article: http://articles.latimes.com/1985-12-29/news/ga-25787_1_annual-christmas-bird-count 

2/2/02 Los Angeles County Arboretum, Arcadia, CA 

10/27/02 Los Angeles County Arboretum

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Red-Whiskered Bulbul

SPECIES: Pycnonotus jocosus

LIFE LIST DATE: 2/2/2002

LOCATION: Los Angeles County Arboretum, Arcadia, CA

From Kaufman Focus Guide: Birds of North America:

HABITAT: Native to Southern Asia. Escaped cage birds established a wild population in the Miami suburb of Kendall in 1960. Escapees have since made their way to Los Angeles and Hawaii.  

IDENTIFYING MARKS: 7"; Unlike any native bird, with black crest, white and red "whisker," red under tail coverts.

BEHAVIOR (from www.birdinginformation.com): Bulbuls feed on fruits, buds, seedlings, insects, spiders, and nectar.  As many as 50 birds can be seen flocking and feeding together.  You might also see them foraging on the ground.  They usually stay hidden in the vegetation, but you might see them perching high in a tree in the early morning where they will sing and call to each other.  They are boisterous birds with loud and clear voices.  Bulbuls seldom migrate and can be found perching in loose flocks.  They live about 11 years.