The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1870.

It is found in southern China and northern Vietnam.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests; it primarily resides in the canopy.

[2] Formerly, some authorities classified the chestnut bulbul in the genus Hypsipetes and also as a subspecies of the ashy bulbul.

This Pycnonotidae-related article is a stub.