African barbet

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African barbets
Beardedbarbet.jpg
Double-toothed barbet
Lybius bidentatus
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Infraorder: Ramphastides
Family: Lybiidae
Sibley & Ahlquist, 1985
Genera

Buccanodon
Gymnobucco
Lybius
Pogoniulus
Stactolaema
Trachyphonus
Tricholaema

Contents

The African barbets are birds in the family Lybiidae. There are 43 species ranging from the type genus Lybius of forest interior to the tinkerbirds (Pogoniulus) of forest and scrubland. They are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the far south-west of South Africa.

The African terrestrial barbets, Trachyphoninae, range from the southern Sahara to South Africa. Members of one genus, Trachyphonus, they are the most open-country species of barbets. The subfamily Lybiinae contains the African arboreal barbets. There are 37 species of Lybiinae in 6 genera.

Description and ecology

Most African barbets are about 20–25 cm (7.9–9.8 in) long, plump-looking, with large heads, and their heavy bill is fringed with bristles; the tinkerbirds are smaller, ranging down to the red-rumped tinkerbird (Pogoniulus atroflavus) at 7 g (0.25 oz) and 9 cm (3.5 in).

They are mainly solitary birds, eating insects and fruit. Figs and numerous other species of fruiting tree and bush are visited, an individual barbet may feed on as many as 60 different species in its range. They will also visit plantations and take cultivated fruit and vegetables. Fruit is eaten whole and indigestible material such as seed pits regurgitated later (often before singing). Regurgitation does not usually happen in the nest (as happens with toucans), although tinkerbirds do place sticky mistletoe seeds around the entrances of their nests, possibly to deter predators. As the other barbets, they are thought to be important agents in seed dispersal in tropical forests.

As well as taking fruit, African barbets also take arthropod prey, gleaned from the branches and trunks of trees. A wide range of insects are taken, including ants, cicadas, dragonflies, crickets, locusts, beetles, moths and mantids. Scorpions and centipedes are also taken, and a few species will take small vertebrates such as lizards, frogs and geckos.

The precise nesting details of many African barbets are not yet known, although peculiarly among the Piciformes, some sociable species will nest in riverbanks or termite nests. Like many members of their order, Piciformes, their nests are in holes bored into a tree, and they usually lay between 2 and 4 eggs (except for the yellow-breasted barbet which lays up to 6), incubated for 13–15 days. Nesting duties are shared by both parents.

There has been generally little interference by humans. Some of the species which require primary woodland are declining due to deforestation, occasionally to the benefit of close relatives. For example, the loss of highland woods in Kenya has seen the moustached tinkerbird almost disappear and the red-fronted tinkerbird expand its range.

Systematics

Red-and-yellow barbet
Trachyphonus erythrocephalus Flammenkopfbartvogelcele4.jpg
Red-and-yellow barbet
Trachyphonus erythrocephalus

Subfamily Lybiinae

Subfamily Trachyphoninae

It is not entirely resolved whether the Early to Middle Miocene genus Capitonides from Europe belongs to this family or the Asian barbets (now Megalaimidae). Indeed, given that the prehistoric birds somewhat resembled a primitive toucan (without these birds' present autapomorphies), they might occupy a more basal position among the barbet-toucan clade altogether. On the other hand, they show some similarities to Trachyphonus in particular and have even been placed into this genus, [1] but this move is not widely accepted.

"CMC 152", a distal carpometacarpus similar to that of barbets and found at the Middle Miocene locality of Grive-Saint-Alban (France) was considered to differ from Capitonides in the initial description, being closer to extant (presumably Old World) barbets. [2] This fossil is sometimes lumped into Trachyphonus too; [1] in this case it may have more merit.

Supposed fossil remains of Late Miocene Pogoniulus were found at Kohfidisch (Austria) [1] but are not yet thoroughly studied. It is not clear whether they belong to the extant genus but given the late date this may well be so.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Mlíkovský (2002)
  2. Ballmann (1969)

Related Research Articles

Turaco a family of birds

The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the fourth (outer) toe can be switched back and forth. The second and third toes, which always point forward, are conjoined in some species. Musophagids often have prominent crests and long tails; the turacos are noted for peculiar and unique pigments giving them their bright green and red feathers.

Piciformes Order of birds

Nine families of largely arboreal birds make up the order Piciformes, the best-known of them being the Picidae, which includes the woodpeckers and close relatives. The Piciformes contain about 71 living genera with a little over 450 species, of which the Picidae make up about half.

Mousebird Order of birds

The mousebirds are birds in the order Coliiformes. They are the sister group to the clade Eucavitaves, which includes the Leptosomiformes, Trogoniformes (trogons), Bucerotiformes, Piciformes and Coraciformes. This group is now confined to sub-Saharan Africa, and it is the only bird order confined entirely to that continent, with the possible exception of turacos which are considered by some as the distinct order Musophagiformes, and the cuckoo roller, which is the only member of the order Leptosomiformes. Mousebirds had a wider range in the Paleogene, with a widespread distribution in Europe and North America during the Paleocene.

New World barbet Near passerine birds from the family Capitonidae of the order Piciformes

New World barbets are near passerine birds from the family Capitonidae of the order Piciformes which inhabit humid forests in Central and South America. They are closely related to the toucans.

<i>Tringa</i> Genus of birds

Tringa is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. The genus name Tringa is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1599. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with brightly coloured legs as reflected in the English names of six species, as well as the specific names of two of these and the green sandpiper. They are typically associated with northern hemisphere temperate regions for breeding. Some of this group—notably the green sandpiper—nest in trees, using the old nests of other birds, usually thrushes.

Yellow-fronted tinkerbird Species of bird

The yellow-fronted tinkerbird is a small African barbet formerly known as yellow-fronted tinker barbet. It is sometimes considered conspecific with its southern counterpart, the red-fronted tinkerbird, Pogoniulus pusillus. Barbets are near passerine birds with bristles around the base of the bill and a world-wide tropical distribution.

Tinkerbird Genus of birds

The tinkerbirds or tinker barbets are the genus Pogoniulus of the Lybiidae, the African barbet family of near passerines, which was formerly included in the Capitonidae and sometimes in the Ramphastidae. Tinkerbirds are widely distributed in tropical Africa.

<i>Tyto</i> Genus of birds

Tyto is a genus of birds consisting of true barn owls, grass owls and masked owls that collectively make up all the species within the subfamily Tytoninae of the barn owl family, Tytonidae.

Toucan barbet Species of bird

The toucan barbet is a barbet native to western Ecuador and Colombia. Along with the prong-billed barbet, it forms the family Semnornithidae, and is closely related to the toucans. It is a medium-sized barbet with a robust yellow bill. It has striking plumage, having a black head with grey throat and nape, red breast and upper belly, yellow lower belly and grey wings and tail.

Red-fronted tinkerbird Species of bird

The red-fronted tinkerbird, is a small African barbet. Barbets are near-passerine birds with bristles around the base of the bill. They have a world-wide tropical distribution.

<i>Lybius</i> Genus of birds

Lybius is a genus of African barbets from the family Lybiidae. This genus ranges across sub-Saharan Africa.

Double-toothed barbet Species of bird

The double-toothed barbet is a species of bird in the family Lybiidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Within Lybius bidentatus, there are two subspecies: Lybius bidentatus bidentatus and Lybius bidentatus aequatorialis.

Black-collared barbet Species of bird

The black-collared barbet is a species of bird in the family Lybiidae which is native to sub-Saharan Africa. Indigenous names include isiKhulukhulu and isiQonQotho in isiZulu, and Isinagogo in isiXhosa.

Banded barbet Species of bird

The banded barbet is a species of bird in the family Lybiidae. It is found in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Red-rumped tinkerbird Species of bird

The red-rumped tinkerbird is a species of bird in the Lybiidae family . It is widely spread across the African tropical rainforest.

Yellow-rumped tinkerbird Species of bird

The yellow-rumped tinkerbird is a bird species in the family Lybiidae, which is native to the moist tropical and subtropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa.

The white-chested tinkerbird is a species of bird in the Lybiidae family . It is endemic to the Zambezian Cryptosepalum dry forests of Zambia. It is only known from the single type specimen, collected in 1964 by Jali Makawa, the field assistant and collector for Constantine Benson. Genetic evidence suggests that it may not a separate species, but instead be a population embedded within the yellow-rumped tinkerbird if it is not an aberrant individual.

Yellow-throated tinkerbird Species of bird

The yellow-throated tinkerbird is a species of bird in the Lybiidae family.

<i>Trachyphonus</i> Genus of birds

The African terrestrial barbets are the bird genus Trachyphonus in the African barbet family (Lybiidae), which was formerly included in the Capitonidae and sometimes in the Ramphastidae. These birds are more terrestrial than the other African barbets and differ in some other respects too; they are thus separated in a monotypic subfamily Trachyphoninae.

Miombo pied barbet Species of bird

The miombo pied barbet is a species of bird in the family Lybiidae. It is found in south-central Africa.

References