Lybius torquatus (Black-collared barbet)

Lybius torquatus (Black-collared barbet)

Rooikophoutkapper [Afrikaans]; Isinagogo [Xhosa]; isiKhulukhulu, isiQonqotho [Zulu]; Kopaope [South Sotho]; Chikweguru [Shona]; Sibagobe [Swazi]; Nwagogosane [Tsonga]; Kôpaôpê, Mmanku [Tswana]; Zwarthalsbaardvogel [Dutch]; Barbican à collier [French]; Halsband-bartvogel [German]; Barbaças-de-colar-preto [Portuguese]

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) > Tetrapoda (four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota > Reptilia (reptiles) > Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria > Dinosauria (dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) > Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves (birds) > Order: Piciformes > Family: Lybiidae


Black-collared barbet. [photo Callie de Wet ©]	Black-collared barbet, Sericea farm, South Africa. [photo Trevor Hardaker ©]

Xanthochroic Black-collared barbet juvenile (meaning that the red is replaced with yellow), Wakkerstroom, South Africa. [photo Johan van Rensburg ©]	Red-collared barbet feeding on figs (Ficus), South Africa. [photo Tony Faria ©]

The Black-collared barbet is one of the most common barbets in Africa, occurring from the DRC to Kenya, extending south to southern Africa. It eats mainly fruit, with the rest of its diet composed of insects and nectar. Both sexes excavate the nest, which is a hole usually on the underside of dead branches of trees, preferably softwood trees like Ficus (wild fig). It lays 2-5 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes, for roughly 18 days. The chicks stay in the nest for about 33-36 days, and are fed fruit and insects by both parents.

Distribution and habitat

One of the most common barbets in Africa, occurring from the DRC to Kenya and southern Africa. Within southern Africa it is present in northern Namibia, northern and eastern Botswana, Mozambique and the eastern half of South Africa. It generally prefers broad-leaved woodland with trees such as miombo (Brachystegia) and Mopane (Colophospermum mopane), grassland and suburban gardens.

Distribution of Black-collared barbet in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common). See here for the latest distribution from the SABAP2.

Brood parasites

It has been recorded as host of the following birds:

Indicator indicator (Greater honeyguide)
Indicator minor (Lesser honeyguide)
Indicator variegatus (Scaly-throated honeyguide)

Food

It mainly eats fruit, especially figs (Ficus), supplemented with insects and nectar. The following food items have been recorded in its diet:

Plants
- fruits
  - Ficus (wild figs)
  - Syzygium (waterberries)
  - Rhus (karees)
  - Euclea (guarris
  - Dovyalis (sourberries)
  - Scutia myrtina (Cat-thorn)
  - Sideroxylon inerme (White milkwood)
  - Diospyros (jackal-berries)
- insects
  - Imbrasia belina (Mopane emperor moth) larvae
- nectar
  - Aloe
  - Schotia brachypetala (Weeping boer-bean)
- green pods
  - Senna singueana (Winter senna)
  - Senna petersiana (Eared senna)
Insects

Breeding

Both sexes excavate the nest, which is a hole in the underside of a dead branch, preferably softwood trees like Ficus (wild fig). It often uses the same hole repeatedly, sometimes using the same nest site for ten years! Abandoned nest cavitis are often taken over by other birds, such as tits and sparrows.


Black-collared barbet peeping out of its nest, Modimolle, South Africa. [photo Warwick Tarboton ©]	Black collared barbet peering out of tree cavity. This photo was taken at Oudtshoorn, South Africa, and was the first record of this bird in the Western Cape. [photo Trevor Hardaker ©]

Egg-laying season is from September-February in South Africa and from August-April in Zimbabwe.
It lays 2-5 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for roughly 18 days.
The chicks stay in the nest for roughly 33-36 days, and are fed fruit insects by both parents.

Threats

Not threatened, in fact its range has increased recently due to the abundance of fruiting trees introduced by humans.

References

Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.