Howdy, friends.  I bring you peace.  And love.  And birds.  But please don’t break my legs.  Our bird this week is another stunner with thin info.  Which is kinda great because I am writing this at work before going out with my cousin and some of his friends for a final night out before his new baby arrives. 

Our bird this week is the golden-naped barbet.  This bird lives in Indonesia and Malaysia, and is endemic to Borneo.  It is a resident species in its range and does not migrate.  It lives in lowland and mountainous forests, up to 3,000  meters (~9,800 feet) in elevation or more.  It is said to be slow-moving, possibly due to its apparently chunky build.  I feel like its hard to tell what is or is not a stocky bird when dealing with creatures this small, but who am I to say.  The golden-naped barbet is around 20cm long, or around 8.25 inches. 

Like the last few barbets we covered, it can be hard to find in the intense green foliage of its surroundings, and is most often located by listening for its call.  The golden nape around its neck is only visible from certain angles, but I wasn’t able to find out if this is because other feathers tend to obscure it or if it is iridescent and changes color based on the viewing angle.  Our barbet last week was covered in iridescent feathers, so it may well be the latter. 

The golden-naped barbet tends to spend time in the upper and mid-story of the forest canopy, where it eats fruits, berries and the occasional insect.  It nests in cavities in trees, some of which it presumably excavates itself which seems to be how barbets get nesting done.  The golden-naped barbet is listed as “of least concern” by the IUCN.  It has a relatively small range, estimated at 78,000 sq km.  For comparison, last week’s bird was a resident of around six million square kilometers.  Despite this limited range and what is presumed to be a decreasing population, the drop has not been significant enough to warrant reassessment. 

Have a good weekend, everyone.  Be good to yourselves and others.

Links: Wiki: https://tinyurl.com/2kdd8xt4, https://tinyurl.com/ymbywxjz, https://tinyurl.com/5d2pnnwd, https://tinyurl.com/mhdtt2bh