Spot-flanked Barbet

Tricholaema lacrymosa

Other Names

  Spotted-flanked Barbet   Barbican funèbre   Tränenbartvogel   Barbudo Lacrimoso       Barbetto fianchimacchiati

World: Africa - found in the East from S Sudan, Uganda, Kenya E Tanzania, E Zaire and NE Zambia.

Kenya: Locally common in damp woodland from 600-2100m in the Highlands and their surrounding plateaux.

As with other African arboreal barbets the Spot-flanked Barbet is primarily fructivorous. It is particularly partial to figs and berries but will also take insects such as termites or beetles. It is found either singly or in pairs and, unlike the Red-fronted Barbet, it is a far more active, moving rapidly between sites and foraging actively over leaves, stems and trunks to take insects.

It is similar to the dry country species, Black-throated Barbet but differs in having spotted flanks while lacking any yellow spots on its upperparts. The males Spot-flanked Barbet (pictured above) also has yellowish eyes.