Gilded Barbet

Overview

The gilded barbet (Capito auratus) is a species of bird in the family Capitonidae, classified as a close relative of the toucans and listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is a thickset, relatively large-headed bird characterised by its stubby bill and vibrant plumage.

Identification

• Total length is approximately 20 cm, with a thickset body and a broadly black-tipped grey bill.
• Upperparts, tail, wings, and facial mask are mainly black, contrasted by yellow markings including a spotty bar over the greater wing coverts and narrow yellow eyebrows that extend as parallel lines over the mantle.
• Throat colour varies by subspecies from red to orange, while the crown ranges from deep yellow to reddish-orange; the belly is pale yellow with black streaking on the flanks.
• Females resemble males but display extensive orange-yellow edging on the wing-coverts and additional yellowish or black streaking on the auriculars, back, and chest, with western females having black-streaked throats.

Habitat

Found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, the species inhabits tropical moist lowland forests and woodland within the Orinoco River Basin and western Amazon Basin. It primarily occupies lowlands but also ranges into the lower foothills of the eastern Andes, extending into headwater tributaries of the Madeira River in Bolivia and east to central Roraima state in Brazil.

Diet

The gilded barbet is largely frugivorous.

Did you know?

It was formerly considered a subspecies of the black-spotted barbet found in north-eastern South America.