The scarlet-banded barbet (''Capito wallacei'') is a species of

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 ...

in the New World barbet family,

Capitonidae New World barbets are near passerine birds from the family Capitonidae of 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 ...

. It is endemic to

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The scarlet-belted barbet was discovered in 1996 and formally described in 2000. According to the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC), the species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

. However, the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

(AOS) and the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 2022 ...

include the "

Sira barbet The Sira barbet (''Capito fitzpatricki'') is a bird in the family Capitonidae, the New World barbets. It is endemic to the Cerros del Sira of east-central Peru. Taxonomy and systematics The Sira barbet was discovered in 2008 and formally ...

" (''Capito fitzpatricki'') as a subspecies of it.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 23 May 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved May 24, 2021Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 15, 2019 The

Cornell Lab of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

's ''Birds of the World'' acknowledges that the "Sira" form is significantly different from the nominate and suggests that it be accorded species rank.Short, L.L., J. Fjeldså, J. F. M. Horne, C. J. Sharpe, and E. de Juana (2020). Scarlet-banded Barbet (''Capito wallacei''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.scbbar2.01 retrieved May 25, 2021

Description

The scarlet-banded barbet is long and weighs . A strikingly colored species, its cap and nape are scarlet, while a broad white supercilium separates the crown from the black ear coverts. Most of the upperparts are black except for a yellow mid-back and large white rump patch. Below, the throat and upper breast are white, bordered below by a broad scarlet band, while the rest of the underparts are shades of yellow.

Distribution and habitat

The scarlet-banded barbet has been found only on a ridgetop known as Peak 1538 in the remote

Cordillera Azul National Park Cordillera Azul National Park () is a protected area in Peru. It protects part of the Ucayali moist forests ecoregion. History In 1963, the Biavo-Cordillera Azul National Forest was established, spanning 2,178,000 hectares. In 1997, this area ...

in south-western Loreto, Peru. (It was mistakenly listed as being in

Ucayali The Ucayali River ( es, Río Ucayali, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón close to Nauta city. The city o ...

, Peru, in its formal description.) There it inhabits humid, mossy, sub-montane and

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

at elevations between .

Behavior

Feeding

The scarlet-banded barbet forages in the forest canopy. It was observed in small groups of the same species and in

mixed-species foraging flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s. It feeds on fruits and seeds and probably takes insects as well.

Breeding

The scarlet-banded barbet specimens collected during the 1996 expedition indicate that the nesting season is probably March through May. No other information about its breeding habits has been published.

Vocalization

The scarlet-banded barbet's song is " a fast, low-pitched trill...'tdddddd-'

that sounds like a woodpecker's drumming. Its call is a "guttural 'ggrrrakk'

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the scarlet-banded barbet as Vulnerable. While it appears to be fairly common, its range is tiny and the total population has been estimated at fewer than 1000 individuals.

References

Additional reading

External links

Recently described new species for the family New World Barbets and Allies
a
Ornitaxa.com
* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1260212

scarlet-banded barbet The scarlet-banded barbet (''Capito wallacei'') is a species of bird in the New World barbet family, Capitonidae. It is endemic to Peru. Taxonomy and systematics The scarlet-belted barbet was discovered in 1996 and formally described in 2000 ...

Birds of the Peruvian Andes Endemic birds of Peru

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot