Barbet
Encyclopedia
American barbets, family
Capitonidae, are near passerine
bird
s of the order Piciformes
which inhabit humid forests in Central
and South America
. They are closely related to the toucan
s.
The American barbets are plump birds, with short necks and large heads. They get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. Most species
are brightly coloured and live in tropical forest.
American barbets are mostly arboreal birds which nest in tree holes dug by breeding pairs, laying 2-4 eggs. They eat fruit and insects. These birds do not migrate
.
The diet of barbets is mixed, with fruit being the dominant part of the diet. Small prey items are also taken, especially when nesting. Barbets are capable of shifting their diet quickly in the face of changes in food availability: Numerous 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 toucan
s). Like their relatives, American barbets are thought to be important agents in seed dispersal
in tropical forests.
As well as taking fruit, they also take arthropod
prey, gleaned
from the branches and trunks of trees. A wide range of insects are taken, including ants, beetles and moths. Scorpions and centipedes are also taken, and a few species will take small vertebrates such as frogs.
can have a deleterious effect on barbet species dependent on old growth, to the benefit of species that favour more disturbed or open habitat.
Three species of American barbets are listed as threatened by the IUCN: The White-mantled Barbet
of Colombia
is listed as endangered
and the Five-coloured Barbet
as vulnerable
, the two having a relatively small range threatened by deforestation
for the timber
industry and to create space for agriculture (including coca
and marijuana
) and livestock, and mining. The quite recently discovered Scarlet-banded Barbet
of Peru
is considered vulnerable due to its small population size (estimated at under a thousand birds) although its remote habitat is not immediately threatened.
American barbets have been found dating from the Miocene
in Florida
. It is widely agreed that the closest relatives of the barbets are the toucan
s, and that these two families are also closely related to the honeyguide
s and woodpecker
s (with which they form the order
Piciformes
).
Formerly the barbets have been treated as one family
. However, this has turned out to be paraphyletic with regard to toucans; thus only the American true barbets are retained in the Capitonidae. The African barbets (Lybiidae
) and the Asian barbets (Megalaimidae
) as well as the two toucan-barbets from America (Semnornithidae) are currently split from this family. Alternatively, the toucans, which evolved
from a common ancestor shared with the American barbets, might be included in the traditional all-encompassing barbet family. As they have evolved a suite of characteristics that are unique to themselves they are usually treated separately, and thus the barbets are split up according to the four lineages.
Genus: Eubucco
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Capitonidae, are near passerine
Near passerine
Near passerine or higher land-bird assemblage are terms often given to arboreal birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines due to ecological similarities; the group corresponds to some extent with the Anomalogonatae of Garrod All near passerines are land birds...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s of the order Piciformes
Piciformes
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...
which inhabit humid forests in Central
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. They are closely related to the toucan
Toucan
Toucans are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species...
s.
The American barbets are plump birds, with short necks and large heads. They get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. Most species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
are brightly coloured and live in tropical forest.
American barbets are mostly arboreal birds which nest in tree holes dug by breeding pairs, laying 2-4 eggs. They eat fruit and insects. These birds do not migrate
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
.
Ecology
While most American barbet species inhabit lowland forest, some range into montane and temperate forests as well. Most are restricted to habitats containing trees with dead wood, which are used for nesting.The diet of barbets is mixed, with fruit being the dominant part of the diet. Small prey items are also taken, especially when nesting. Barbets are capable of shifting their diet quickly in the face of changes in food availability: Numerous 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
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
pits regurgitated later (often before singing
Bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...
). Regurgitation does not usually happen in the nest (as happens with toucan
Toucan
Toucans are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species...
s). Like their relatives, American barbets are thought to be important agents in seed dispersal
Biological dispersal
Biological dispersal refers to species movement away from an existing population or away from the parent organism. Through simply moving from one habitat patch to another, the dispersal of an individual has consequences not only for individual fitness, but also for population dynamics, population...
in tropical forests.
As well as taking fruit, they also take arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
prey, gleaned
Gleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...
from the branches and trunks of trees. A wide range of insects are taken, including ants, beetles and moths. Scorpions and centipedes are also taken, and a few species will take small vertebrates such as frogs.
Relationship with humans
American barbets have little impact on humans. The loss of forestDeforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
can have a deleterious effect on barbet species dependent on old growth, to the benefit of species that favour more disturbed or open habitat.
Three species of American barbets are listed as threatened by the IUCN: The White-mantled Barbet
White-mantled Barbet
The White-mantled Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family.It is endemic to Colombia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, pastureland, and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on...
of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
is listed as endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
and the Five-coloured Barbet
Five-coloured Barbet
The Five-coloured Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is endemic to humid forest in the Chocó of north-western Ecuador and south-western Colombia. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
as vulnerable
Vulnerable species
On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...
, the two having a relatively small range threatened by deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
for the timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
industry and to create space for agriculture (including coca
Coca
Coca, Erythroxylum coca, is a plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. The plant plays a significant role in many traditional Andean cultures...
and marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
) and livestock, and mining. The quite recently discovered Scarlet-banded Barbet
Scarlet-banded Barbet
The Scarlet-banded Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. Only discovered in 1996 and formally described in 2000, the Scarlet-banded Barbet is endemic to humid highland forest growing on a ridgetop known as Peak 1538 in the remote Cordillera Azul National Park in south-western...
of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
is considered vulnerable due to its small population size (estimated at under a thousand birds) although its remote habitat is not immediately threatened.
Systematics, taxonomy, and evolution
FossilFossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
American barbets have been found dating from the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. It is widely agreed that the closest relatives of the barbets are the toucan
Toucan
Toucans are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species...
s, and that these two families are also closely related to the honeyguide
Honeyguide
Honeyguides are near passerine bird species of the order Piciformes. They are also known as indicator birds, or honey birds, although the latter term is also used more narrowly to refer to species of the genus Prodotiscus. They have an Old World tropical distribution, with the greatest number of...
s and woodpecker
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
s (with which they form the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Piciformes
Piciformes
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...
).
Formerly the barbets have been treated as one family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
. However, this has turned out to be paraphyletic with regard to toucans; thus only the American true barbets are retained in the Capitonidae. The African barbets (Lybiidae
Lybiidae
The Lybiidae is a bird family containing the African barbets. They were usually united with their American and Asian relatives in the Capitonidae for quite some time, but this has been confirmed to be limited to the main American lineage. There are 42 species ranging from the type genus Lybius of...
) and the Asian barbets (Megalaimidae
Megalaimidae
A family of birds comprising the Asian barbets, the Megalaimidae were once united with all other barbets in the Capitonidae but they have turned out to be distinct...
) as well as the two toucan-barbets from America (Semnornithidae) are currently split from this family. Alternatively, the toucans, which evolved
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
from a common ancestor shared with the American barbets, might be included in the traditional all-encompassing barbet family. As they have evolved a suite of characteristics that are unique to themselves they are usually treated separately, and thus the barbets are split up according to the four lineages.
Species
FAMILY: CAPITONIDAE- Genus: CapitoCapitoCapito is a genus of birds in the Capitonidae family. They are found in humid forests in South America, with a single species extending into eastern Panama. Slightly larger than the members of the genus Eubucco, members of the genus Capito are all sexually dimorphic and thickset, and have stubby...
- Scarlet-crowned BarbetScarlet-crowned BarbetThe Scarlet-crowned Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family.It is found in Amazonian Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru....
,
- Scarlet-crowned Barbet
- Scarlet-banded BarbetScarlet-banded BarbetThe Scarlet-banded Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. Only discovered in 1996 and formally described in 2000, the Scarlet-banded Barbet is endemic to humid highland forest growing on a ridgetop known as Peak 1538 in the remote Cordillera Azul National Park in south-western...
, Capito wallacei - Spot-crowned BarbetSpot-crowned BarbetThe Spot-crowned Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family.It is found in Colombia and Panama.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest....
, Capito maculicoronatus - Orange-fronted BarbetOrange-fronted BarbetThe Orange-fronted Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in forests in western Ecuador and extreme southwestern Colombia. It is threatened by habitat loss. Both genders are mainly black and white, and have a red forecrown...
, Capito squamatus - White-mantled BarbetWhite-mantled BarbetThe White-mantled Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family.It is endemic to Colombia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, pastureland, and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on...
, Capito hypoleucus - Black-girdled BarbetBlack-girdled BarbetThe Black-girdled Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family.It is found in Bolivia and Brazil.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Capito dayi - Five-colored Barbet, Capito quinticolor
- Black-spotted BarbetBlack-spotted BarbetThe Black-spotted Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in forests in northeastern South America, ranging as far south as the Amazon River and as far west as the Branco River. Previously, it included the Gilded Barbet of the southern and western Amazon Basin as...
, Capito niger - Gilded BarbetGilded BarbetThe Gilded Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family, the barbets, and are close relatives of the toucans....
, Capito auratus - Brown-chested BarbetBrown-chested BarbetThe Brown-chested Barbet , also called Cinnamon-breasted Barbet, is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family.It is endemic to Brazil's central-southern Amazon Basin....
, Capito brunneipectus
Eubucco
Eubucco is a genus of colourful birds in the Capitonidae family. They are found in humid forest in South and Central America, and the species have almost entirely allo- or parapatric distributions...
- Lemon-throated BarbetLemon-throated BarbetThe Lemon-throated Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in humid lowland forest in the western Amazon Basin in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. It is generally uncommon.-References:...
, Eubucco richardsoni - Red-headed BarbetRed-headed BarbetThe Red-headed Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in humid highland forest in Costa Rica and Panama, as well as the Andes in western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and far northern Peru. The diet of the Red-headed Barbet may include bananas and various other...
, Eubucco bourcierii - Scarlet-hooded BarbetScarlet-hooded BarbetThe Scarlet-hooded Barbet is a species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is endemic to humid lowland forest in the south-western Amazon Basin in south-eastern Peru, north-western Bolivia and south-western Brazil; the majority of its range is in Peru-. It is generally uncommon...
, Eubucco tucinkae - Versicoloured BarbetVersicoloured BarbetThe Versicoloured Barbet is a very colourful species of bird in the Capitonidae family. It is found in humid Yungas forest growing on the east Andean slopes in Peru and Bolivia.-References:...
, Eubucco versicolor
External links
- Barbet videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Barbet sounds on xeno-canto.org
- Don Roberson's Bird Families of the World