Vieillot's Barbet

Vieillot's Barbet
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: Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Piciformes : Capitonidae : Lybius : vieilloti
Binomial name
Lybius vieilloti (Leach, 1815)

The Vieillot's Barbet, Lybius vieilloti, is a small barbet. Barbets are near passerine birds with a world-wide tropical distribution. They get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills.

The Vieillot's Barbet is a resident breeder in the African scrubland on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert from Senegal to Ethiopia. It is an arboreal species of savannah and farmland which eats insects and fruit, especially figs. It nests in a tree hole, laying three eggs.

This is a sparrow-sized barbet at 15 cm. It is a plump bird, with a short neck, large head and short tail. The adult has a red head, and the neck and breast are a mixture of red and white. The upperparts are dark brown apart from a yellow stripe down the back. The rest of the underparts are yellowish with dark flank spotting. The bill is thick and dark grey. Sexes are similar, but immature birds are duller.

The call is a repetitive duet whoo-oop whoo-oop whoo-oop .

This bird is named after the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot.

Reference

• Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1