Buccanodon duchaillui
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The yellow-spotted barbet (Buccanodon duchaillui) is a bird species in the monotypic genus Buccanodon. It belongs to the African barbet family (Lybiidae) which was formerly included in the Capitonidae and sometimes in the Ramphastidae.
Two subspecies are known: 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. 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.
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. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Taï National Park | 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast | |
| 4 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yaoundé | 🇨🇲 Cameroon |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-spotted Barbet sighting in Yaoundé on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 65th most-seen of the 72 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-spotted Barbet in Yaoundé on a given day, against under 5% in August–September and December–February, the lowest months. March and June–July have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-spotted Barbet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Yaoundé, in our data
Yaoundé is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Yellow-spotted Barbet sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Lybiidae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-spotted Barbet that you can see in Yaoundé (family Lybiidae, African Barbets) are Double-Toothed Barbet (about 30%), Grey-throated Barbet (about 20%) and Vieillot's Barbet (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-spotted Barbet is recorded against all the birds logged in Yaoundé (5 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
