Chaplin's barbet (''Lybius chaplini'') or the Zambian barbet, is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Lybiidae Lybiidae is a family (biology), family of birds also known as the African barbets. There are 44 species ranging from the type genus ''Lybius'' of forest interior to the tinkerbirds (''Pogoniulus'') of forest and scrubland. They are found througho ...

, which was until recently united with the other barbets in the

Capitonidae 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 ...

. This bird was named in honor of Sir Francis Drummond Percy Chaplin, a former colonial governor. The species was renamed to emphasize its status as Zambia's only true endemic bird species. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to South Central

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and is restricted to the area between the Upper Kafue River to Kabanga in the Kalomo District. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are moist

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

and

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. It was formerly classified as a

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

species by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. But new research has shown it to be rarer than it was believed. Consequently, it is uplisted to Vulnerable status in 2008.

Description

Chaplin's barbet is a small bird species, measuring up to in length with a weight of . It is a plump-looking barbet with a large head and a heavy bill with bristles. Its plumage is white with red around the eyes. Its tail is black and the wings are black with yellow on the edges. These birds are usually found in open woodland areas where figs are abundant, which is where this species prefers to gather food and nest.

Bird calls

Chaplin's barbets usually occur in groups of two to six individuals and guard their territories aggressively. When calling to each other, these barbets snap their bills loudly and emit a chorus of buzzy, grating notes like an accelerating noisy cackle.

Nesting

This particular barbet's breeding season is from August to November. They nest in cavities in branches of the fig trees and lay between two and four eggs that they incubate for 13–15 days. The parents share the nesting and parental care responsibilities. These barbets can be parasitized by

lesser honeyguide The lesser honeyguide (''Indicator minor'') is a species of bird in the family Indicatoridae. Like other honeyguides, it is a brood parasite that lays eggs most commonly in the nests of African barbets, but will also occasionally use the nests of ...

s, which lay eggs in the barbets' nest and leave them for the barbets to raise as their own. Sometimes the honeyguides will destroy some of the barbet chicks and replace them with the parasite offspring.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261209 Birds described in 1920 Endemic birds of Zambia Lybius Taxonomy articles created by Polbot