Pied Barbet
Tricholaema leucomelas
A medium-sized barbet with uniformly white underparts, a black throat patch, a red forehead, and a striking yellow-and-white eyebrow. Pairs reside in semi-desert, savanna, and gardens, preferring thickets and more treed areas with suitable for nest cavities. Calls a distinctive melancholy “poooop” 6–7 times, often accompanied with a nasal, repeated “nyeeeeaar”. Miombo Barbet differs by lacking the dark throat patch and by having heavily-spotted underparts and a yellowish breast. The two species hybridize in southern Zambia.
Identification
The acacia pied barbet has dark brown eyes and blackish legs and feet. It has a black-and-white striped head with a red front and forecrown and pale yellow superciliary stripe. It has a black bib under the chin, with a white breast and underparts in the drier land subspecies T. l. centralis. The breast and underparts are more dusky and streaky in the southerly nominate subspecies, and more yellowish in the easterly T. l. affinis. The sexes are similar in appearance. Juvenile birds lack the red mark on the forehead, and have the underpart plumage more streaky.
Taxonomy
The acacia pied barbet was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected from the Cape of Good Hope region of South Africa. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Bucco leucomelas in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The acacia pied barbet is now placed in the genus Tricholaema that was introduced by the French brothers Jules and Édouard Verreaux in 1855. The generic name combines the Ancient Greek thrix meaning hair and laimos meaning "throat". The specific leucomelas combines the Ancient Greek leukos meaning "white" and melas meaning "black".<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Tricholaema leucomelas
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Lybiidae
- Genus
- Tricholaema
Range and habitat
It primarily inhabits semi-arid savanna, as well as grassland, fynbos, agricultural areas and urban gardens, which it did not inhabit formerly. With the introduction of alien vegetation, especially Racosperma species from Australia, to regions bordering its original range, this species has been able to expand its range to these otherwise unreachable areas.<p>It is found in Angola, Botswana, eastern Eswatini, western Lesotho, southern Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, southern Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The acacia pied barbet is a sedentary but fairly restless species that occurs in pairs or singly. Its flight is fast and direct. The acacia pied barbet drills holes into dead wood to create cavity nests, like most other barbets and woodpeckers. It lays two to four eggs from August to April, and both sexes incubate the eggs.<p>The acacia pied barbet has been observed taking fruit from various trees and shrubs, such as Ficus, Searsia and Phoenix reclinata, as well as Aloe nectar and insects.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Pternistis harwoodi
A dark, medium-sized francolin with a large patch of red bare skin around the eyes, and a red bill and legs. The blackish feathers of the back, neck, and underparts have pale fringes. An Ethiopian endemic that is found very locally on rocky and scrubby hillsides. A fairly shy francolin that is usually in pairs or small groups. Similar to Clapperton’s Francolin, but much darker overall, with a red rather than mostly black bill. Separated from Erckel’s Francolin by smaller size, darker and duller coloration, and red bill and legs. Calls include a decelerating series of rough “kreeya” notes, and a lower “chuck” call.
Southern Boubou
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A plump, dark-backed bushshrike with a creamy throat; buff-rufous flanks, thighs and belly; and a striking white stripe on the dark wing. The female is duller and less glossy than the male. Pairs are shy and skulking residents of thickets and tangles in fynbos, forest, and woodland. The species forages furtively by creeping stealthily and hopping slowly, close to the ground. Normally boubous are first detected by their loud distinctive ringing duets: “wheeet-whee-do-do-do”; their single loud “wheee” notes; and a rattling scold like the vibrating of a seed-pod shaker. The similar Tropical Boubou has paler underparts than the Southern Boubou.
Neumann's Warbler
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Unusual short-tailed and big-headed warbler. The most obvious marks are the bold black, white, and olive-green stripes on the head. Found in the understory of middle-elevation montane forest, usually in thick, wet areas, as along streams. Most often detected by voice: a sequence of three whistles, “tseew tsee-tyout.” Most similar to Green Hylia, but much shorter-tailed.
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