Yellow-spotted barbet

The yellow-spotted barbet (Buccanodon duchaillui) is a bird species in the monotypic genus Buccanodon.^[2] It belongs to the African barbet family (Lybiidae) which was formerly included in the Capitonidae and sometimes in the Ramphastidae.

Yellow-spotted barbet
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Lybiidae
Genus:	Buccanodon G.R. Gray, 1855
Species:	B. duchaillui
Binomial name
Buccanodon duchaillui (Cassin, 1855)

Two subspecies are known:^[3]

• B. d. duchailllui (Cassin, 1856) (eastern yellow-spotted barbet) - eastern and central Africa, west to Nigeria
• B. d. dowsetti Boesman & Collar, 2019 (western yellow-spotted barbet) - Sierra Leone to Togo

The western subspecies was described in 2019 as a distinct species based on its unique song. The western yellow-spotted barbet has a song described by Nigel James Collar and Peter Boesman as "a series of 7–10 accelerating notes similar to a song of hairy-breasted barbet (Tricholaema hirsuta)" (phoneticized as "oop"), while the eastern yellow-spotted barbet has a song described by Collar and Boesman as a "characteristic purring (lasting 1–2 seconds), unique among [African] barbets" (phoneticized as "rrurrrrrr…"). These song differences led to the description of B. dowsetti as a distinct species.^[4][5] In 2023, the International Ornithological Congress recognized dowsetti as a distinct taxon, but tentatively kept it as a subspecies of duchailllui due to other studies finding significant divergences elsewhere within the species' range, indicating that B. duchaillui as a whole may represent a species complex.^[3]

It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda.^[3]

References

1. BirdLife International (2020). "Buccanodon duchaillui". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T181379225A181436049. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T181379225A181436049.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
2. "ITIS Report: Buccanodon". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
3. "Jacamars, puffbirds, barbets, toucans, honeyguides – IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
4. Collar, N. J. & Boesman, Peter (June 2019). "Two undescribed species of bird from West Africa". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 139 (2): 147–159. doi:10.25226/bboc.v139i2.2019.a7. ISSN 0007-1595.
5. "Two New Bird Species Discovered in West Africa | Biology | Sci-News.com". Breaking Science News | Sci-News.com. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-22.