Bald beard bird

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Bald beard bird
Illustration from 1871

Illustration from 1871

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Woodpecker birds (Piciformes)
Family : African bearded birds (Lybiidae)
Genre : Bristle beards ( Gymnobucco )
Type : Bald beard bird
Scientific name
Gymnobucco calvus
( Lafresnaye , 1841)

The naked-faced barbet ( Gymnobucco calvus ) is a bird art from the family of the African barbets. The inconspicuous brownish feathered species occurs in West Africa on both sides of the equator. Several subspecies are distinguished. The IUCN classifies the bald-headed bird as not endangered ( least concern ).

Appearance

The males of the nominate form reach a wing length of 8.2 to 9.2 centimeters. The tail becomes 4.2 to 5.0 inches long. The beak length is 1.9 to 2.1 centimeters. Females tend to be slightly larger. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism .

Males and females have a gray to black bare face with only a few hair-like feathers. There are bristle-like matt brown feathers on the chin and the side of the beak base. The neck and throat are feathered brown. The top of the body is dark brown with pale yellowish feather shafts and feather tips. The control springs are dark brown on the top and a little lighter on the underside. The underside of the body is brown to gray-brown from the breast to the under tail-coverts, the throat is somewhat lighter in comparison. The beak is pale red-brown, yellow, or dull brown. The eyes are dark brown. The skin on the clearly visible ear opening is yellow. The legs and feet are dark brown to black or purple-slate in color. Young birds are slightly paler in color than the adults .

The bald-headed bird can be confused with all species of its genus. The bearded bird , however, has a feathered face and usually a pale beak. It also lacks the noticeable bristles at the base of the beak. The soot-whiskered bird is darker and has a black beak, the whiskered bird has light-colored bristles at the base of the beak and a smaller beak. Since up to three species of the genus sympatric occur in some areas and bristle-bearded mustaches can often be observed in mixed groups, the species are difficult to identify clearly in field observations.

Distribution area and habitat

The range of the bald-whiskered bird extends from Sierra Leone, Guinea and the south of Ghana through Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and the west of the DR Congo to the north of Angola. Its habitat are forests in the lowlands, but it also occurs at altitudes of 1820 meters. In the forests of the lowlands it is a very common bird in the region. Of all the bearded whiskers, the bald-headed bird is usually the most common species. It also occurs in secondary forests and in tree-populated villages.

Way of life

Bald-bearded birds are very social birds that look for food in small to large flocks. The food spectrum includes cultivated and wild fruits as well as insects and nectar. They are very agile birds that cling to leaves or bark while foraging. They occasionally catch insects by flying. After foraging for food, groups of bald-headed birds occasionally sit quietly and largely motionless in trees for long periods of time.

Bald-bearded birds, like most bearded birds, are cave-breeders. They usually make their own caves in dead branches or trunks. They are regular colony breeders who are occasionally associated with the black beard bird and the bristle bearded bird in the colonies. 250 nesting holes have already been counted in a single, dead tree. The clutch consists of up to five white-shelled eggs. Data on the incubation period, nestling development and nestling duration are not available.

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Short et al., P. 136
  2. ↑ a b Short et al., P. 137

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