Miombo Barbet Tricholaema frontata Scientific name definitions

c. 16 cm; c. 24·5–28 g (1 King, T. and Chamberlan, C. (2007). First records for Congo-Brazzaville of Miombo Pied Barbet Tricholaema frontata, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus chrysoconus and Sladen’s Barbet Gymnobucco sladeni. Bull. African Bird Club. 14(2): 193-199. Close ). Black, white and yellow barbet. Both sexes have red spot in central part of forehead, pale yellow supercilia , brown ear-coverts, brown bill, and scaly malar area; nape is spotted white, upperparts black with yellow spots; breast yellow, rest of underparts whiter, all usually with black spotting. Distinguished from T. leucomelas by very spotted underparts, lack of black throat patch; hybrids are intermediate. Immature lacks red on crown, has no or only very slight (2 Short, L. L., and J. F. M. Horne (2001) Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) “tooth” on bill, and lax plumage (2 Short, L. L., and J. F. M. Horne (2001) Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

• Miombo x Pied Barbet (hybrid) Tricholaema frontata x leucomelas

S DRCongo to SW Tanzania and S to C Angola, S Zambia and W Malawi. Isolated population recently found in SE Congo (3 King, T. and Chamberlan, C. (2007). First records for Congo-Brazzaville of Miombo Pied Barbet Tricholaema frontata, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus chrysoconus and Sladen’s Barbet Gymnobucco sladeni. Bull. Afr. Bird Club 14(2): 193–199. Close , 4 King, T. (2011). The birds of the Lesio-Louna and Lefini Reserves, Batéké Plateau, Republic of Congo. Malimbus 33(1):1–41. Close ).

Inhabits woodland, usually of Brachystegia, but also Burkea in W Zambia (5 Benson, C. W., R. K. Brooke, R. J. Dowsett, and M. P. S. Irwin (1971). The Birds of Zambia. Collins, London, UK. Close ), occasionally in canopy of Cryptosepalum (mainly if mixed with Brachystegia) and mixed miombo/Baikiaea (6 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ); generally found in more wooded habitats than T. diademata and T. leucomelas, but occurs in some degraded woodland patches and clearings in Zambia, also patchy woods in Angola and in Congo-Brazzaville found in Loudetia grassland with scattered 3–8 m-tall Hymenocardia acida trees (1 King, T. and Chamberlan, C. (2007). First records for Congo-Brazzaville of Miombo Pied Barbet Tricholaema frontata, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus chrysoconus and Sladen’s Barbet Gymnobucco sladeni. Bull. African Bird Club. 14(2): 193-199. Close ). Generally observed at 500–1100 m, but at 600–1600 m in Malawi (7 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2006). The Birds of Malawi: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Eats fruits and insects, but diet not known in detail. Certainly takes figs, Hymenocardia acida and Maprounea africana (Euphorbiaceae) (1 King, T. and Chamberlan, C. (2007). First records for Congo-Brazzaville of Miombo Pied Barbet Tricholaema frontata, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus chrysoconus and Sladen’s Barbet Gymnobucco sladeni. Bull. African Bird Club. 14(2): 193-199. Close ), and consumes some termites and beetles; possibly takes nestling birds or bird eggs. Inconspicuous, usually solitary, gleans in leaf clusters and on bark, from canopy to ground level (2 Short, L. L., and J. F. M. Horne (2001) Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); flycatches occasionally. Drives away foraging Pogoniulus chrysoconus. Regularly joins mixed-species foraging flocks (6 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Primary song  6–30 “hoop” notes at c. 2 per second, songs at 3–5 per minute; secondary “nyeh” song or call, singly, or in series of up to 12 notes at 1–1·5 per second, notes shorter than in T. diademata; also grating calls, and “yeh” calls in interactions, and two calls of young when begging. Loud wing-rustling during interactions.

Sept–Dec, rarely Jul–Mar. Male sings with throat puffed, bill down, turning head side to side. Nest 1–15 m up in dead branch, often on underside, of tree such as Brachystegia, Acacia polyacantha or Hymenocardia acida (8 King, T. (2011). The birds of the Lesio-Louna and Lefini Reserves, Bateke Plateau, Republic of Congo. Malimbus. 33(1): 1–41. Close ); hole dug horizontally to c. 7·5 cm, then vertically to as much as 30·5 cm; territory c. 10 ha, although nests occasionally within 200 m of one another (2 Short, L. L., and J. F. M. Horne (2001) Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Clutch 2–3 white eggs, size 20·3–23·9 mm × 14–16 mm, mass 2·5 g (2 Short, L. L., and J. F. M. Horne (2001) Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); incubation and nestling periods unknown; both adults provision young, at 2–10 feeds per hour, insects fed at first, with fruits predominating later on; adults remove faecal material regularly.

Not globally threatened. Range recently extended c. 750 km N to Lesio-Louna Reserve, Congo-Brazzaville (1 King, T. and Chamberlan, C. (2007). First records for Congo-Brazzaville of Miombo Pied Barbet Tricholaema frontata, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus chrysoconus and Sladen’s Barbet Gymnobucco sladeni. Bull. African Bird Club. 14(2): 193-199. Close ). No data on numbers, but appears to be locally common, although miombo woodland has been widely destroyed and degraded in Malawi, so species is suspected to be unlikely to commonly survive outside of protected areas in this country (7 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2006). The Birds of Malawi: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ). Populations presumably becoming more fragmented with continuing clearance of woodland. More information needed on species’ ecology and breeding biology, as well as on its numerical status.