Black-spotted Barbet
The Polka Dot Barbet ( Capito niger) is a species of bird in the family of the American barbets. The species is widespread in South America and describes several subspecies, which differ markedly in their plumage coloration in part. Capito auratus was originally also as a subspecies of the speckle beard bird, this species, which is also referred to in the German language as dots Barbet, but is now regarded mainly as independent.
The IUCN classifies the dots Bartvogel one as not at risk ( least concern ).
Appearance
The males of the nominate achieve a wing length 7.5 to 8.7 centimeters. The tail length is 4.5 to 5.7 inches and the beak measures between 2.0 and 2.5 centimeters. Females have similar body size.
The males of the nominate race have a bright red forehead, which is set off by a fine black line from the beak. The skull is blurry yellow and gray vertical stripes on the jacket they have a yellow V-shaped drawing. From the beak of a black band over his eyes extends to the neck. The body top is otherwise black with single yellow badge. The tail feathers are black brown, the two outer tail feathers have fresh statistics stats a white hem. Chest and abdomen are yellowish white, clear of the sides there are large, fuzzy gray spots that are drop-shaped in some individuals. The beak is short and strong. The beak coloration is highly variable and can range from a silvery blue to gray and blue green to a horn -colored clay. The eyes are brown to red, the featherless area around the eye is slate blue. The females of the nominate have a plumage dress that is very similar to that of the males. But they are on the body sides slightly brownish and have gray spots on the breast.
The subspecies differs from the nominate form by a different header and partly also another chest coloring. In the subspecies C. n hypochondriacus example, forehead and throat are orange, the flanks are orange to wash and in the female the elytra are lined with orange. In the subspecies C. n nitidor throat is red-orange, otherwise it resembles the subspecies C. n hypochondriacus.
Due to the wide black band that runs from the beak base to the neck, the Dot barbet is easy to distinguish from the Zwergbuntbärtlingen. The Zimtbrust Barbet, in which the northern boundary of its distribution adjacent to the Polka Dot beard bird has a zimtbraunes chest band. The throat -banded Barbet has an equally colored breast band and black on the body top and white. The Olivrücken Barbet has a yellow-orange breast and has no marks on the body top. The Loreto Barbet, which occurs only in a very small area in Peru, has a white throat and a striking red chest band and is therefore easy to distinguish spots Barbet.
Distribution area
The distribution area of the speckle beard bird extends from eastern Colombia and Peru to Brazil to Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Venezuela. In Brazil, the species is restricted to the northeastern Amazon basin and occurs here in the states of Roraima, Pará and Amapá.
Habitat and behavior
The Polka Dot Barbet is a common bird of older forests of the lowlands. He also settled adjacent, older secondary forests, forest edges, gardens, orchards and regional and wet mountain forests. So he comes in Peru before to 820 meters above sea level. In the Varzea it is relatively rare. Its ecological niche is here mainly occupied by Olivrücken Barbet. In Venezuela, it sometimes happens even in subtropical forests.
In search of food, he is predominantly singly or in pairs to observe. It may be that looking at large, fruit-bearing trees several spots beard birds at the same time for food. Were observed up to 15 copies at a time. Occasionally, they join also teams that consist of other bird species. This is mainly to Manakin, tyrants, and tanagers Baumsteiger. Usually the spots Barbet in the upper canopy regions looking for food. He eats besides fruits, which make up about 80% of its food, even insects. Foliage is searched for example by him for insects. In addition, he also drinks nectar. The population density varies with the age of the forest; it is particularly high in forests in the transition to the final phase of the forest and then up to 20 pairs per amount to 100 hectares.
On the construction of the nest box birds both parents are involved. It is usually located at a height from 4.8 to 12.0 meters above the ground. The reproductive biology has so far not been investigated in detail. The clutch size is three to four eggs. The incubation period is unknown, the nestling period is 34 days and the young birds are fed for about three more weeks of parental birds.
Subspecies
Because of the large geographical variability numerous subspecies have been described from the Polka Dot Barbet. Capito auratus was also formerly a subspecies of Capito niger Today, by most authors, the following six subspecies recognized:
- Capito niger niger Statius Muller, 1776
- Capito niger aurantiicinctus Dalmas, 1900
- Capito niger orosae Chapman, 1928
- Capito niger amazonicus Deville & Des Murs, 1849
- Capito niger nitidior Chapman, 1928
- Capito niger hypochondriacus Chapman, 1928