Gray-throated Barbet Gymnobucco bonapartei Scientific name definitions

The Gray-throated Barbet’s distribution extends across Central Africa, from western Cameroon, Gabon, and southwest Congo east to western Kenya and northwest Tanzania, and south to far northeast Angola. Two subspecies are generally recognized, with a third having been proposed for somewhat intermediate specimens in the center of the range; one of the world checklists recently took the bold step of separating the populations at species level based purely on morphological characters, including iris color (dark in the west, pale in the east). Like other Gymnobucco, this species is a dark-plumaged barbet with two prominent erect tufts of brownish or straw-colored bristly feathers at the base of the bill. The species inhabits primary, dense secondary, and riverine forests, as well as overgrown plantations, pastures and cultivated areas near forest, and around villages with fruiting trees, from the lowlands to 2,600 m in the east of the range. These barbets breed in small to large colonies, sometimes with other Gymnobucco (including both Naked-faced Barbet (Gymnobucco calvus) and Bristle-nosed Barbet (Gymnobucco peli), and the nests are excavated by the birds themselves in dead trees, usually at least 2 m above ground level. Many pairs are accompanied throughout the breeding cycle by extra-pair helpers (which are presumed to be young from a previous nesting effort), and these assist with everything from nest-building to feeding the nestlings. There are some indications, but no proof, that Gray-throated Barbet may be parasitized by the Lesser Honeyguide (Indicator minor).