Green Tinkerbird

The green tinkerbird (Pogoniulus simplex) is a species of bird in the Lybiidae family (African barbets). It is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

The Eastern Green Tinkerbird, Pogoniulus simplex, is a small, dull-green tinkerbird that has been included in a broadly-defined tinkerbird genus Pogoniulus by most recent authorities. The present paper, however, places simplex, and its relative leucomystax, the Moustached Green Tinkerbird, in the genus Viridibucco because the plumage patterns of these two species differ markedly from other tinkerbirds and there is an indication that they have a unique, hyper-specialized diet.

Until recently, the Eastern Green Tinkerbird has been known from the southern African region only on the basis of a single skin from Chicomo, Funhalouro District, Inhambane Province, Mozambique. During the course of this investigation, a further overlooked locality for the species, the Gorongosa Massif, also came to light, as discussed further below.