New World barbet

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New World barbets
A female red-headed barbet
(Eubucco bourcierii) in Peru
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Suborder: Pici
Infraorder: Ramphastides
Family: Capitonidae
Bonaparte, 1838
Genera

Capito
Eubucco

The New World barbets are a family, Capitonidae, of 15 birds in the order Piciformes, which inhabit humid forests in Central and South America. They are closely related to the toucans.

The New World barbets are plump birds, with short necks and large heads. They get their name from the bristles that fringe their heavy bills. Most species are brightly coloured and live in tropical forest.[1]

These barbets are mostly arboreal birds, which nest in tree holes dug by breeding pairs, laying two to four eggs. They eat fruit and insects. These birds do not migrate.

Taxonomy

See also: List of New World barbets

Fossil New World barbets have been found dating from the Miocene in Florida.[2] The closest relatives of the barbets are the toucans, and these two families are also closely related to the honeyguides and woodpeckers (with which they form the order Piciformes).

Formerly, the barbets have been treated as one

Eubucco bourcierii, ♀♀
 – by Keulemans
, 1891

The

International Ornithological Committee (IOC).[6]

Piciformes

Galbulidae
– jacamars (18 species)

Bucconidae
– puffbirds (38 species)

Indicatoridae
– honeyguides (16 species)

Picidae
– woodpeckers (240 species)

Megalaimidae – Asian barbets (35 species)

Lybiidae – African barbets (42 species)

Capitonidae – New World barbets (15 species)

Semnornithidae
– toucan barbets (2 species)

Ramphastidae
– toucans (43 species)

Fossils

  • Genus Capitonides (Early – Middle Miocene of Europe) (fossil)
    • †Capitonides europeus

Ecology

While most New World 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. Small prey items are also taken, especially when nesting. Barbets are capable of shifting their diet quickly in the face of changing food availability. Numerous species of fruiting trees and bushes are visited; an individual barbet may feed on as many as 60 different species in its range. They also visit plantations and take cultivated fruit and vegetables. Fruit is eaten whole, and indigestible material such as

singing). Regurgitation does not usually happen in the nest (as happens with toucans). Like their relatives, New World 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 is taken, including ants, beetles, and moths. Scorpions and centipedes are also taken, and a few species take small vertebrates such as frogs.

Relationship with humans

New World barbets have little direct impact on humans. The loss of forest can have a deleterious effect on barbet species dependent on old growth, to the benefit of species that favor more disturbed or open habitat.

Three species of New World barbets are listed as threatened by 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 1000 birds), although its remote habitat is not immediately threatened.

References

  1. ISBN 1-85391-186-0
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-19-854666-5
    .
  3. ISBN 84-87334-37-7
  4. hdl:21.11116/0000-0007-B72A-C
    .
  5. PMC 11111414
    .
  6. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "IOC World Bird List Version 14.1". International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 17 June 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Capitonidae.
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