Toucan Barbet
Encyclopedia
The Toucan Barbet, Semnornis ramphastinus, is a distinctive bird
found in humid forests growing on the west Andean slopes in north-western Ecuador
and south-western Colombia
. While it remains fairly common locally, it has declined due to habitat loss and trapping for the cage-bird trade.
In the past, it has been grouped with the other barbets in the Capitonidae. However, DNA studies have confirmed that this arrangement is paraphyletic; the New World
barbets are more closely related to the toucan
s than they are to the Old World
barbets. As a result, the barbet lineages are now considered to be distinct families, and the Toucan Barbet, together with the Prong-billed Barbet
, is now placed into a separate family, Semnornithidae.
The Toucan Barbet is unusual among frugivorous birds in that it breeds cooperatively, with several helpers
aiding the dominant breeding pair with incubation
and raising the young.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
found in humid forests growing on the west Andean slopes in north-western Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and south-western Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. While it remains fairly common locally, it has declined due to habitat loss and trapping for the cage-bird trade.
In the past, it has been grouped with the other barbets in the Capitonidae. However, DNA studies have confirmed that this arrangement is paraphyletic; the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
barbets are more closely related to the toucan
Toucan
Toucans are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species...
s than they are to the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
barbets. As a result, the barbet lineages are now considered to be distinct families, and the Toucan Barbet, together with the Prong-billed Barbet
Prong-billed Barbet
The Prong-billed Barbet is a distinctive, relatively large-billed bird native to humid highland forest in Costa Rica and western Panama.It often has been placed with the other barbets in the Capitonidae...
, is now placed into a separate family, Semnornithidae.
The Toucan Barbet is unusual among frugivorous birds in that it breeds cooperatively, with several helpers
Helpers at the nest
Helpers at the nest is a term used in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology to describe a social structure in which juveniles and sexually mature adolescents of either one or both sexes, remain in association with their parents and help them raise subsequent broods or litters, instead of...
aiding the dominant breeding pair with incubation
Avian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
and raising the young.