D'Arnaud's barbet (Trachyphonus darnaudii) is a species of bird in the family Lybiidae. Barbets and toucans are a group of near passerine birds with a worldwide tropical distribution. The barbets get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. Four geographical races (darnaudii, böhmi, emini and usambiro) have been recorded. The 2021 taxonomic update to the IOC World Bird List upgraded the usambiro subspecies to species status as Usambiro barbet / Trachyphonus usambiro.[3]

D'Arnaud's barbet
Female, Serengeti National Park
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Lybiidae
Genus: Trachyphonus
Species:
T. darnaudii
Binomial name
Trachyphonus darnaudii
(Prévost & Des Murs, 1847)
Subspecies[2]
  • Trachyphonus darnaudii darnaudii - (Prévost & Des Murs, 1847)
  • Trachyphonus darnaudii boehmi - Fischer, GA & Reichenow, 1884
  • Trachyphonus darnaudii usambiro - Neumann, 1908
  • Trachyphonus darnaudii emini - Reichenow, 1891

D'Arnaud's barbet is a small East African bird that feeds on insects, fruits, and seeds. It grows to about eight inches, and is equally at home in trees or on the ground. A vertical tunnel two to three feet into the ground with a sideways and upward turn leads to the nest chamber. In a striking dance the male and female face each on nearby twigs and twitch, bob and sing like mechanical toys.

The species was named in honour of the French explorer and engineer Joseph Pons d'Arnaud.

They vocalize in groups, starting with a specific vocalization described as a chewp noise, often simultaneously raising and fanning the tail.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Trachyphonus darnaudii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22726002A94908729. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22726002A94908729.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
  3. ^ Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P. (Eds.). "Master Lists – IOC World Bird List". IOC World Bird List. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  4. ^ Mahamoud Issa, Mathieu; Sikora, Bożena; Rusiecki, Stanisław; Osiejuk, Tomasz S. (2022-09-09). "The Yellow-breasted Barbet (Trachyphonus margaritatus) introduces vocal duets and choruses with a specific multimodal signal, during territorial advertisement". Journal of Ornithology. 164 (1): 183–192. doi:10.1007/s10336-022-02016-w. ISSN 2193-7192.