Pycnonotidae

Alophoixus (Criniger) finschii
Finsch's Bulbul
Finsch' Baardbuulbuul (Dutch)

ZMA 18177
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Near-Threatened A bird of the sundaic lowland primary forest in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo, a type of forest estimated to have disappeared by 2010 due to clear-cutting and fires. This little-known species undoubtedly has also undergone a rapid decline, though very few actual observations are known. At least locally, able to survive in secondary forest, and thus perhaps not in immediate danger of extinction. The reasons for its apparent scarcity even in the past should be investigated, and perhaps the bird is specialized to a certain type of scarce food.

Items in the ZMA - 7 birds:
ZMA 18174-18175 & 18177-18179 Males, one juvenile & four adults, 8, 8 & 23 Jan 1920 and 1 Nov & 4 Oct 1919, Sungei Tasik (03°49'N, 98°15'E), Langkat, NE Sumatra, Indonesia, coll. A.F.C.A. van Heijst 0195, 0194, 0266, 1917 & 1806, skins.

ZMA 18176 & 18180 Adult females, 1 Dec 1919 & 8 Jan 1920, Sungei Tasik (03°49'N, 98°15'E), Langkat, NE Sumatra, Indonesia, coll. A.F.C.A. van Heijst 025 & 0196, skins.

Remarks
According to the Sumatran checklist of Marle & Voous (1988), this bird was only known for Sumatra from a single specimen collected 22 Oct 1919 at Sungei Tasik [not in the ZMA], a supposition corrected by Van Balen (2001) and a further proof that the checklist (including its taxomonic conclusions) was based on literature and hardly on the examination of specimens.

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