A finely flecked breast flashing highly distinctive shades of orange, yellow and red makes for a very distinctive bird indeed!

Meet the Gilded Barbet

The gilded barbet (Capito auratus) has a broad black swathe that runs from the base of his bill, across the eyes towards the back, which is also black with gold barring and streaks. His throat is orange, fading to yellow on the belly, which is flecked with black on either side. The upper parts, wings, and tail are mainly black, while the bill is stubby. Additionally, there are narrow yellow eyebrows, which extend as two parallel lines right over the mantle.

Photo Courtesy of Patty McGann / CC BY 2.0

The female closely resembles the male, however, she is more extensively covered in orange to yellow edging along the wing coverts. She also has yellowish streaking to the auriculars and back as well as black streaking on the flanks which extend over to the chest.

Females who inhabit the westernmost part of their range tend to have a throat streaked with black.

Photo Courtesy of PEHart / CC BY-SA 2.0

These birds can be found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, in the Orinoco River Basin and the western Amazon Basin.

The natural habitats of the Gilded barbet are tropical moist lowland forests and woodland. It mainly occurs in the lowlands but also ranges into the lower foothills of the eastern Andes.

Being mainly frugivorous, fruit makes up a large portion of this bird’s diet.

Like most American barbets, Gilded barbets are thought to nest in tree holes dug by breeding pairs. Up to 2 to 4 eggs are laid within.

This species is regarded as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Photo Courtesy of Patty McGann / CC BY 2.0

Watch this bird right here in the video below: