White-cheeked barbet

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White-cheeked barbet
Calls

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Megalaimidae
Genus: Psilopogon
Species:
P. viridis
Binomial name
Psilopogon viridis
(Boddaert, 1783)
Type locality: Mahé
Synonyms

Bucco viridis, Thereiceryx viridis, Megalaima viridis

The white-cheeked barbet or small green barbet (Psilopogon viridis) is a species of

frugivorous (although they may sometimes eat insects), and use their bills to excavate nest
cavities in trees.

Taxonomy

Bucco viridis was the

genus Megalaima proposed by George Robert Gray in 1842 who suggested to use this name instead of Bucco.[5]
Its
monotypic species.[6]

In 2004,

molecular phylogenetic research of barbets revealed that the Megalaima species form a clade, which also includes the fire-tufted barbet, the only species placed in the genus Psilopogon at the time. Asian barbets were therefore reclassified under the genus Psilopogon.[7]

Results of a phylogenetic study of Asian barbets published in 2013 indicate that the white-cheeked barbet is most closely related to the

endemic to Sri Lanka.[8]

The relationship of the white-cheeked barbet with some close relatives in its taxon is illustrated below.[8]

 

Green-eared barbet Psilopogon faiostrictus

 
 

Lineated barbet Psilopogon lineatus

 

Brown-headed barbet Psilopogon zeylanicus

 

White-cheeked barbet Psilopogon viridis

Yellow-fronted barbet Psilopogon flavifrons

Description

The white-cheeked barbet is 16.5–18.5 cm (6.5–7.3 in) in length. It has a brownish head streaked with white, sometimes giving it a capped appearance. The bill is pale pink.[9] Size varies from the larger northern birds to the southern ones.[10]

Like many other Asian barbets, white-cheeked barbets are green, sit still, and perch upright, making them difficult to spot. During the breeding season which begins at the start of summer their calls become loud and constant especially in the mornings. The call, a monotonous Kot-roo...Kotroo... starting with an explosive trrr is not easily differentiated from that of the brown-headed barbet. During hot afternoons, they may also utter a single note wut not unlike the call of collared scops owl or coppersmith barbet. Other harsh calls are produced during aggressive encounters.[11]

Distribution and habitat

The main range is along the

Shevaroy and Chitteri Hills.[11][9] In some areas such as in the city of Bangalore, it has been suggested that this species may have displaced the brown-headed barbet which was once said to occur there.[12]

Behaviour and ecology

Like woodpeckers, the barbets perch on the trunk to hollow their nest. The rictal bristles around the beak are prominent.

The Indian ornithologist

Salim Ali noted that some individuals call in the night during the breeding season, but this has been questioned by other observers who noted that they appear to be strictly diurnal.[13]

Food and feeding

These barbets are arboreal and will rarely visit the ground. They obtain most of the water they need from their fruit diet. When water is available in a tree hole, they will sometimes drink and bathe.[14]

These birds are mostly frugivorous, but will take winged termites and other insects opportunistically. They feed on the fruits of various

Muntingia calabura. When foraging they are quite aggressive and will attempt to chase other barbets, koels and other frugivores.[9][16]

These barbets play an important role in forests as seed dispersal agents.[17][18][19] They also visit the flowers of Bombax for nectar and may be involved in pollination.[11]

Their fruit eating makes them a minor nuisance in fruit orchards although they are noted as having a beneficial effect in coffee plantations.[20][21]

A species of tick in the genus

Kyasanur forest disease.[24] Shikras have been recorded preying on adults.[25]

Breeding

An adult peeking from nest entrance

In

Courtship feeding of the female by the male is usual prior to copulation. Calling intensity drops after the hatching of the eggs.[25]
The nest hole is usually made in dead branches. These barbets are aggressive towards smaller hole-nesters such as the Malabar barbet, sometimes destroying their nests by pecking at the entrance. Both sexes excavate the nest and it can take about 20 days to complete the nest. Eggs are laid about 3–5 days after nest excavation. About 3 eggs are laid. The incubation period is 14 to 15 days. During the day both sexes incubate, but at night, only the female sits on the eggs. The pair will defend their nests from palm squirrels which sometimes prey on the eggs. Chicks are fed an insect rich diet. The young leave the nest after 36 to 38 days.[25]

These birds are primary cavity nesters, chiseling out the trunk or a vertical branch of tree with a round entry hole. They breed from December to July, sometimes raising two broods.[9] Favoured nest trees in urban areas include gulmohur (Delonix regia) and African tulip (Spathodea campanulata). These nest holes may also be used as roosts.[26] They may reuse the same nest tree each year but often excavate a new entrance hole.[27][28]

References

  1. . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Boddaert, P. (1783). "870. Barbu verd". Table des Planches enluminées d'Histoire Naturelle de M. D'Aubenton : avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precedé d'une notice des principaux ouvrages zoologiques enluminés (in French). Utrecht. p. 53.
  3. ^ Buffon, G.-L. L. (1780). "Le barbu vert". Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux (in French). Vol. 13. Paris: L'Imprimerie Royale. p. 161.
  4. Daubenton, L.-J.-M. (1765–1783). "Barbu de Mahé"
    . Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. 9. Paris: L'Imprimerie Royale. p. Plate 870.
  5. ^ Gray, G. R. (1842). "Appendix to a List of the Genera of Birds". A List of the Genera of Birds (Second ed.). London: R. and J. E. Taylor. p. 12.
  6. ^ Peters, J. L., ed. (1948). "Genus Megalaima G. R. Gray". Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 6. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 31–40.
  7. PMID 15022769
    .
  8. ^ .
  9. ^ a b c d Rasmussen, P.C. & Anderton, J.C. (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. p. 277.
  10. ^ Blanford, W. T. (1895). "Thereiceryx viridis. The Small Green Barbet". The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. 3, Birds (First ed.). London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 89–90.
  11. ^ .
  12. ^ George, J., ed. (1994). Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Bangalore. Bangalore: Birdwatchers' Field Club of Bangalore.
  13. ^ Neelakantan, K.K. (1964). "The Green Barbet Megalaima viridis". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 4 (4): 6–7.
  14. ^ Yahya, H.S.A. (1991). "Drinking and bathing behaviour of the Large Green Megalaima zeylanica (Gmelin) and the Small Green M. viridis (Boddaert) Barbets". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 88 (3): 454–455.
  15. S2CID 27827864
    .
  16. ^ Kumar, T.N.V. & Zacharias, V.J. (1993). "Time budgets in fruit-eating Koel Eudynamys scolopacea and Barbet Megalaima viridis". In Verghese, A.; Sridhar, S. & Chakravarthy, A.K. (eds.). Bird Conservation: Strategies for the Nineties and Beyond. Bangalore: Ornithological Society of India. pp. 161–163.
  17. JSTOR 24105700
    .
  18. .
  19. .
  20. ^ Yahya, H.S.A. (1983). "Observations on the feeding behaviour of barbet (Megalaima sp.) in coffee estates of South India". Journal of Coffee Research. 12 (3): 72–76.
  21. .
  22. .
  23. .
  24. .
  25. ^ a b c Yahya, H.S.A. (1988). "Breeding biology of Barbets, Megalaima spp. (Capitonidae: Piciformes) at Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 85 (3): 493–511.
  26. ^ Neelakantan, K.K. (1964). "The roosting habits of the barbet". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 4 (3): 1–2.
  27. ^ Baker, ECS (1927). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume (4. Second ed.). Taylor and Francis, London. p. 114.
  28. ^ Neelakantan, K.K. (1964). "More about the Green Barbet Megalaima viridis". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 4 (9): 5–7.

Further reading

  • Sridhar Hari, Sankar K (2008). "Effects of habitat degradation on mixed-species bird flocks in Indian rain forests". Journal of Tropical Ecology. 24 (2): 135–147.
    S2CID 86835417
    .

External links