Howdy, friends. Continuing our study of barbets, this week we are talking about the little-studied but exceptionally colorful red-headed barbet. This bird lives in humid montane forests and forest edges in Costa Rica, Guyana, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It typically lives at altitudes between 700-2,300 m above sea level, or 2,200-7,500 ft. It prefers the forest understory and secondary growth forests, and typically lives in areas with lots of fruiting plants.

This barbet feeds on insects and fruits and apparently eats bananas if they are provided in a feeder.  I was going to say that given their small size, with an observed maximum weight of around 43 grams or about 1.5 oz, they would be incapable of getting past the banana peel on their own, but that doesn’t sound right.  Given that these birds nest in cavities they make in trees or fenceposts, I’m guessing its more likely that they eat bananas in the wild as well, maybe finding them particularly tasty and worth approaching a feeder for.   

As mentioned, red-headed barbets will excavate holes in dead trees or other suitable structures, and have been known to expand existing woodpecker nests to claim as their own.  This is a unique strategy that saves a lot of effort over excavating a nest from scratch.  They will travel in small flocks during the year, but pairs will be territorial during mating season.  The mating pair will work together to create or expand a nest.  The female will brood over the eggs at night and both birds will take turns doing so during the day.  The most interesting thing about this bird I think is its striking sexual dimorphism, unlike any we have covered.  The male is, as expected, red-headed, but the female is working with an entirely different, and just as striking, color palette.  The red-headed barbet is considered “of least concern” by the ICUN.  Its population appears to be dropping, but not to worrying levels. And like a lot of birds we have covered, it has a very wide range, which is usually thought by authorities to mean that it is safe from habitat encroachment and other such threats for now. 

 

Finally, this bird’s call has been referred to as “ventriloquial,” which I had to look up and means “related to ventriloquism.”  I don’t know how widely accepted that assessment is, but that would be a pretty useful skill for a brightly colored bird that nonetheless needs to hide in dense forest from threats to itself or its nest.  

Have a good weekend everyone, be sure to take time out for self-care.

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