African Barbets

The African barbets are a diverse group of birds in the family Lybiidae, with 43 species existing throughout sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the southwestern most region of South Africa. These species vary in habitat, from the forest-dwelling Lybius to the tinkerbirds that favor forests and scrublands. African barbets are generally solitary, and most are plump in appearance, with large heads and heavy, bristle-fringed bills; tinkerbirds are the smaller counterparts with some as tiny as the red-rumped tinkerbird. Their diet includes a variety of fruits, such as figs, and many other species of fruiting trees and bushes, but they will eat up to 60 different species of fruit within their range and do not shy away from consuming cultivated crops. They also eat a wide array of insects and other arthropods from tree trunks and branches and sometimes prey on small vertebrates. Seed dispersal in tropical forests is heavily reliant on barbets due to their fruit consumption and regurgitation habits. Interestingly, while their nesting habits vary and are not thoroughly understood, some species nest in riverbanks or termite nests and typically lay 2-4 eggs, which both parents incubate. Human interference has been minimal, yet deforestation has impacted certain species negatively, resulting in population declines. In terms of classification, the family Lybiidae is divided into the subfamilies Lybiinae and Trachyphoninae, encompassing six genera including Gymnobucco, Stactolaema, Pogoniulus, Buccanodon, Tricholaema, and Lybius, and the Trachyphonus genus, respectively. The evolutionary history of this group is not fully resolved, with fossil records indicating potential relations to other barbet families or a more basal position within their clade. Fossil evidence suggests some Miocene genus may be related to the modern African barbets, though this is also under debate.