Howdy, friends.  This week I have another randomly selected barbet for you.  As mentioned in the comments last week, if I want to cover them all, I will have to make a list or something.  I wouldn’t want to repeat a bird, but I don’t think I have so far in all the years of bird headers.  I have been tending picking pretty birds with little info about them, hoping that the mesmerizing colors would make up for my lack of scholarship, and boy, did I hit the jackpot this week.  

The Taiwan barbet is endemic to Taiwan, found nowhere else, and has some fun AKAs, including the embroidered barbet, the five-colored bird in Mandarin, and the colorful monk.  Although there wasn’t a ton of info about this bird, I did find an academic paper trying to nail down the external differences, if any, between males and females.  At least per the abstract, the researchers were not able to find any, attributing any observed differences to environmental factors affecting growth and plumage brightness.  

The Taiwan barbet lives in parks, and forests, including mountain forests at elevations of up to 2,800 m (9,200 ft).  It eats fruit and insects, and like the other barbets we have covered, nests in cavities in trees.  It will use existing cavities or excavate its own.  It has also shown an affinity for nesting boxes.  Like a lot of barbets, it can be hard to spot in the forest, and is easier to find by listening for its call.  However, unlike other barbets, it will sometimes perch on a treetop, making it more visible.  

The Taiwan barbet is rated as “of least concern” by the IUCN. Although its range is very small, the population appears to be steady.

Have a good weekend, everyone, take care of yourselves out there.

Links: https://tinyurl.com/5y58ej8a, https://tinyurl.com/pafk2mf2, https://tinyurl.com/2u5dc7vw, https://tinyurl.com/22t8mhyz, https://tinyurl.com/2xpyd6z, https://tinyurl.com/5626dzb6, https://tinyurl.com/2p32jxh7