The bearded barbet (''Lybius dubius'') is an

African barbet The African barbets are birds in the family Lybiidae. There are 43 species ranging from the type genus ''Lybius'' of forest interior to the tinkerbirds (''Pogoniulus'') of forest and scrubland. They are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, wit ...

. Barbets are

near passerine Near passerines and higher land-bird assemblage are terms of traditional, pre-cladistic taxonomy that have often been given to tree-dwelling birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines (order Passeriformes) owing to mor ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s with a worldwide tropical distribution, although New World and Old World barbets are placed in different families. The barbets get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. The bearded barbet is a common resident breeder in tropical west

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

, although the young are fed on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2 white

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s. This is a conspicuous, large barbet at . It is fairly plump, with a short neck, large head and a shortish tail. The adult has a black crown, back, tail and breast band. The throat and belly are red and there is a yellow eye patch. The rump is white. The massive bill is very thick and yellow, and the well developed clump of bristles at its base give the species its name. Sexes are similar. The call is a growling . The bearded barbet is found in well-wooded areas with plentiful

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

trees. It will enter gardens for fruit. It forms social groups of 4-5 birds and pairs or groups roost together in a tree cavity.

Gallery

File:Lybius dubius-20030523.jpg File:Bearded Barbet Head.jpg, Head and "beard" File:Lybius dubius -Warsaw Zoo, Poland-8a.jpg, At

Warsaw Zoo The Warsaw Zoological Garden, known simply as the Warsaw Zoo ( pl, Miejski Ogród Zoologiczny w Warszawie ), is a scientific zoo located alongside the Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland. The zoo covers about in central Warsaw, and sees over 700,000 ...

, Poland

References

* ''Birds of The Gambia'' by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, {{Taxonbar, from=Q586075

bearded barbet The bearded barbet (''Lybius dubius'') is an African barbet. Barbets are near passerine birds with a worldwide tropical distribution, although New World and Old World barbets are placed in different families. The barbets get their name from the br ...

Birds of West Africa

Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN