BLACK-COLLARED Barbets love all types of fruit, so if you have fruit trees in your garden or nearby, then you are most likely to have them visiting.
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Description
This is one species you cannot misidentify as there is no similar looking bird in the Highway area. As the name suggests, they have a full black collar around their head, but it is most probably the bright red feathers around the face that are most noticeable and striking, and they match the bright red eyes. In some rare cases, the yellow feathers replace the red. Another striking feature is the very powerful looking bill.
The rest of the features are fairly bland, with a brown back and off-white or olive-brown belly. They are approximately 20cm long and weigh about 54g. Males and females are identical in appearance and very difficult to tell apart.
Distribution
There are six species of Barbet in South Africa, of which, three are found in the Highway area. These are the Crested, White-eared and Black-collared Barbets. The Black-collared Barbets can be found in the moist, eastern part of South Africa, from Gqeberha northwards.
Habitat
They inhabit woodlands, riparian forests and the dune forests along the coast. They are generally absent from tall, evergreen forests.
Feeding
Their diet is mainly fruit and they love figs, which the Highway area is fortunate to have many indigenous varieties of. They will occasionally snack on insects, such as centipedes, and very rarely on lizards and geckos.
Breeding
Black-collared Barbets are monogamous and pair for life. The nest is excavated in the underside of a softwood tree or a dead tree branch. Both the male and female help to excavate the hole in which the female lays between two and five eggs. Both adults carry out the incubation duties and both feed the chicks. The nest is often reused for many years.
Predators and threats
The Black-collared Barbets are not a threatened species, and it is believed their numbers have benefitted from the many trees planted in suburbia. They are hunted by raptors, particularly Peregrine Falcons.
Local information
The Black-collared Barbet is found in most parts of the Highway area. Find an indigenous fig tree in fruit and sooner or later you will spot them. They also enjoy the fruit of the Water berry Tree (Umdoni), of which there are many in the riverine forests.
Support
To support the ongoing work of the Kloof Conservancy, visit its website at https://www.kloofconservancy.org.za.
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