[2] It is endemic to the island of Java in Indonesia in its natural habitat of subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

[3] The Javan bulbul is sometimes classified in the genus Hypsipetes, presumably based on an earlier error in the Sibley taxonomy.

The specific epithet virescens was given to the present species by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1825 and pre-dates the same name as given to the Nicobar bulbul by Edward Blyth in 1845.

[4] The olive bulbul has also been given the same scientific binomial, Hypsipetes virescens.

One subspecies is currently recognized:[5] The Sumatran bulbul (I. sumatranus) of Sumatra was formerly considered a subspecies (with both species being grouped together as the Sunda bulbul), but more recent studies have found it to be a distinct species.