The gilded barbet (''Capito auratus'') 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 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 ...

, the New World barbets, and are close relatives of the toucans.

Description

It has a total length of c. 20 cm (8 in). As other New World barbets, the gilded barbet is a thickset, relatively large-headed bird with a stubby bill. The upperparts, tail, wings and mask are mainly black. The spotty bar over the greater

wing coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

, narrow edging to the

remiges Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...

and tips to the tertials are yellow. Additionally, the narrow yellow eyebrows extend as two parallel lines over the mantle. The belly is mainly pale yellow with black streaking to the flanks. Depending on

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, the throat ranges from red to orange, and the crown ranges from deep yellow over brownish-orange to reddish-orange. The female resembles the male, but with extensive orange-yellow edging to the wing-coverts, yellowish streaking to the auriculars and back, and the black streaking of the flanks also extending over the chest. In females from the westernmost part of its range (subspecies ''punctatus''), the throat is streaked black. Both sexes have dark maroon irides, greyish legs and a broadly black-tipped grey bill.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

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 ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, in the Orinoco River Basin and western

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the

black-spotted barbet The black-spotted barbet (''Capito niger'') is a species of bird in the family Capitonidae, the New World barbets. It is found in Brazil, the Guianas, and Venezuela.Short, L.L., J. F. M. Horne, G. M. Kirwan, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Black-spot ...

from north-eastern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. 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 tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and woodland. It mainly occurs in lowlands, but also ranges into the lower foothills of the eastern

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. It is largely

frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...

Western Amazon Basin and Orinoco range

The gilded barbet ranges in the eastern

drainages to the rivers of the western

from eastern Colombia-Venezuela, eastern Ecuador, from north to south-eastern Peru, and northern Bolivia; in Bolivia the barbet only ranges on the headwater tributaries to the north-easterly flowing

Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

. The eastern limit in the south-west Amazon Basin is the Purus River west of the Madeira. In the north-west Amazon Basin, the eastern range limit is central

Roraima Roraima (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas ...

state Brazil, the south flowing

Branco River The Branco River ( pt, Rio Branco; Engl: ''White River'') is the principal affluent of the Rio Negro from the north. Basin The river drains the Guayanan Highlands moist forests ecoregion. It is enriched by many streams from the Tepui highlands w ...

. The contiguous range to the north-west into Venezuela is all of eastern Venezuela approaching the Guyana border. The gilded barbet's range is on the eastern side of the Caribbean north-flowing Orinoco River drainage, but avoids the lower-half riverine strip by 150 km; the range occurs on the upper-half of the Orinoco River extending south into the eastern border area of Colombia. A small range extension goes southeastwards into central Bolivia, which are also tributary areas to the Madeira River.

References

External links

Gilded Barbet photo gallery
VIREO
Photo-Medium Res
birding-in-Peru–''"Guilded Barbet"''
Photo-High ResArticle
greenbackedheron {{Taxonbar, from=Q135469

gilded barbet The gilded barbet (''Capito auratus'') is a species of bird in the family Capitonidae, the New World barbets, and are close relatives of the toucans. Description It has a total length of c. 20 cm (8 in). As other New World barbets, t ...

Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Colombian Amazon Birds of the Venezuelan Amazon Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon Birds of the Bolivian Amazon

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot