Bristle beards
| Bristle beards | ||||||||
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Bald Beard Bird ( Gymnobucco calvus ) |
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| Gymnobucco | ||||||||
| Bonaparte , 1850 |
The bristle mustaches ( Gymnobucco ) are a genus within the family of the African bearded birds. There are six species in this genus, all of which occur in Africa on both sides of the equator. They are brownish, inconspicuously colored birds. The IUCN classifies all bristle-bearded species as not endangered ( least concern ).
Appearance
Bristle beards have a wing length of about 8-10 centimeters. The tail is relatively short with 4–5 centimeters. The beak length is about 2 centimeters.
The bearded bird is the only species that has a feathered face. In the other species the face is largely featherless up to the clearly visible ear openings. There are only a few isolated, hair-like feathers. All four species have bristle-like tufts of feathers at the base of their beak that point a little forward. The sootbeard bird has a light gray neck, a light gray throat and a light gray chin. The soot-whiskered bird, bristle-whiskered bird and bald-headed bird are otherwise very similar, but they differ in the color of their beak. They also occur sympatric in many areas and are often socialized with one another, which makes it difficult to reliably identify them in field observations.
Distribution area
The whiskered bird and bald bird occur in the lowlands of West Africa. Their distribution area extends from Sierra Leone to the north of Angola. The soot-whiskered bird is not a common bird of the forested regions of the DR Congo and the southwest of the Central African Republic. It is occasionally associated with the bearded bird. Its distribution area extends from western Cameroon through the south of the Central African Republic, the south of Sudan and western Kenya to Angola, the DR Congo, Burundi and western Tanzania.
Way of life
Bearded whiskers are forest-dwelling species, but the bald-whiskered bird also occurs in villages that have a population of trees. The food spectrum consists of fruits and insects. They are cave breeders who make their own nesting holes and who often breed in colonies. 250 nesting holes have already been counted in a single, dead tree in the bald bearded bird. Reproductive biology is otherwise largely unexplored.
species
The following six species belong to the bristle-bearded species:
- Black Bearded Bird ( Gymnobucco bonapartei )
- Bald Beard Bird ( Gymnobucco calvus )
- Gray-headed bearded bird ( Gymnobucco cinereiceps )
- Borstenbartvogel or Pelbartvogel ( Gymnobucco peli )
- Sootbeard bird ( Gymnobucco sladeni )
- Angola bald- whiskered bird ( Gymnobucco vernayi )
supporting documents
literature
- Lester L. Short, Jennifer FM Horne: Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides - Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-854666-1
- www.hbw.com 2016