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

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 ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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

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 ...

. 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 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 found elsew ...

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, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

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

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...

s are moist

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

and

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "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 ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. It was formerly classified as a

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

species by 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 ...

. 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. Range It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Rep ...

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 Chaplin's barbet Chaplin's barbet Endemic birds of Zambia Chaplin's barbet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot