The first complete maternally-inherited mitochondrial genome of Pycnonotus melanicterus has been sequenced and annotated in this study. The mitogenome is 17,011 bp in size with an A+T content of 55.15%, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (srRNA and lrRNA) genes, and 2 extensive heteroplasmic control regions. Genome organization and gene arrangements of P. melanicterus are similar to those of other bulbuls. All 13 PCGs initiated with ATG as the start codon, while terminated by seven types of stop codons. All tRNA genes sequences have the potential to fold into typical cloverleaf secondary structures. Gene overlapping was observed in the P. melanicterus mitogenome. Moreover, our results of phylogenetic analysis well support the monophyly of Pycnonotidae as previously studies.