Lemon-throated Barbet
Eubucco richardsoni
Small, colorful barbet of lowland rainforest canopy. Plumage variable across its range: males are typically green-olive above and bright yellow below, with a crimson crown and sides of the face (but crimson replaced with black in northeastern Peru and adjacent northwestern Brazil) and variable amounts of orange on breast; females are similar but duller, often with more gray in the head. Usually found near water, around oxbow lakes, forest streams, and swampy forest; also found in secondary forest and forest edges. Frequently associates with mixed species flocks. Listen for its low, rolling song.
Identification
The "lemon-throated" barbet is approximately 15.5 cm (6.1 in) long and weighs 24.5 to 34 g (0.86 to 1.20 oz). The male of the nominate subspecies has a red crown, gray-blue nape, and green upperparts. Its throat is yellow, the breast orange-red, and the belly and flanks greenish with dark streaks. The female is duller, with a gray-green crown, nape, and upperparts. Its throat is bluish, the breast orange-gold, and the underparts bluish yellow with dark streaks. The male E. r. nigriceps has a black crown and both sexes have blue-green upperparts.<p>The "flame-throated" barbet is 14.5 to 15.5 cm (5.7 to 6.1 in) long and weighs 26 to 42 g (0.92 to 1.48 oz), heavier than the two "lemon-throated" subspecies. E. r. aurantiicollis differs from the nominate by having a yellow nape, upperparts that are a yellower green, a more orange throat, and a redder breast. The female is similar to the nominate but less yellow in the throat and breast. The E. r. purusianus male is paler than the nominate and more pinkish on the breast. The female's breast band is the same orange-gold as the nominate's but narrower.
Taxonomy
The lemon-throated barbet as recognized by the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS), the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy has four subspecies: the nominate Eubucco richardsoni richardsoni, E. r. nigriceps, E. r. aurantiicollis, and E. r. purusianus. Clements groups richardsoni and nigriceps as "lemon-throated" and the other two as "flame-throated" within the species. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World treats the two groups separately within its account of the lemon-throated barbet sensu lato. At various times, including as recently as 2014, aurantiicollis has been treated as a separate species called flame-throated barbet.
- Scientific name
- Eubucco richardsoni
- Authority
- (Gray, GR, 1846)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Capitonidae
- Genus
- Eubucco
Range and habitat
The lemon-throated barbet is a bird of the western Amazon Basin. The four subspecies are found thus:<p>All of the subspecies inhabit the same forest types, lowland terra firme and dense secondary forest and their edges and clearings. They also are found in the edges of várzea forest. They are more numerous in maturing forest near rivers and lakes than in fully mature forest. In elevation they range from the lowlands to 1,375 m (4,511 ft) in Colombia, 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Ecuador, 1,100 m (3,600 ft) in Bolivia, and 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Peru.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The diet of the "flame-throated" barbet is fruits and arthropods, approximately evenly divided. It forages alone or in pairs from the canopy of the forest to within 5 m (16 ft) of the forest floor, but more commonly between 12 and 24 m (39 and 79 ft). It also frequently joins mixed-species foraging flocks. It spends more than one-third of its foraging time feeding on insects in dead leaf clusters. The "lemon throated" barbet's diet and foraging behavior have not been documented but are assumed to be very similar.<p>The "lemon-throated" barbet's breeding season appears to be from April to November though it may begin in February. Its nest and eggs have not been described. The "flame-throated" barbet's breeding phenology has not been studied, though its breeding season is believed to start earlier than that of the nominate subspecies.<p>The songs of the four lemon-throated barbet subspecies do not differ substantially. Their song is "soft double or usually triple 'hoo' notes in [a] fast, trill-like series" [1]. Its calls are "various grunts and snarls" [2].
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Forest Fody
Foudia omissa
Sparrow-like weaver in which red-hooded breeding males are distinctive, but females and non-breeding females are drab. Madagascar endemic that is found in and adjacent to rainforest, sometimes in flocks that may include other birds. Calls are high, silvery notes, given in long series as a song. Can be very similar to Red Fody. Breeding male Forest Fody lacks red on the back and belly, though molting male Red Fody can match this pattern. Females and non-breeding males very similar, but Forest Fody is darker and more greenish, with a larger bill. Hybrids are also common and further confuse identification. Unlike Red Fody, found in the rainforest interior.
White-winged Cinclodes
Cinclodes atacamensis
Uncommon to fairly common in the high Andes, where usually outnumbered by similar but smaller Cream-winged Cinclodes. Favors streams and bogs with running water and also lakeshores. Generally less confiding than Cream-winged Cinclodes. Told from Cream-winged by brighter, rustier back and more contrasting white markings with broader wing stripe and big white tail corners as opposed to smaller buff tail corners on Cream-winged. Voice also quite different.
Brown Babbler
Turdoides plebejus
A dull brownish babbler with brightly colored eyes. Found in moist woodland, dense savanna, scrub, gallery forest, forest edge, cultivated areas, and gardens, almost always in groups that forage actively on the ground. Similar in shape, size, and overall brown coloration to Arrow-marked Babbler, but there is only minor overlap in range, and Brown Babbler can be separated by the paler face and throat and the less pointed white markings on the underparts. Calls include a raspy babbling and a dry clucking, both usually by a whole group in chorus.
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