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 Semuliki National Park on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 150th most-seen of the 280 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.
January and March
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-spotted Barbet in Semuliki National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April, July and November–December, the lowest months. Those are among Semuliki National Park's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in May.
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.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Yellow-spotted Barbet sightings, Semuliki National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 20%), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, about 20%) and Taï National Park (Ivory Coast, about 10%).
Same family: Lybiidae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-spotted Barbet that you can see in Semuliki National Park (family Lybiidae, African Barbets) are Yellow-Billed Barbet (about 40%), Yellow-throated Tinkerbird (about 40%) and Speckled Tinkerbird (about 40%), 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 Semuliki National Park (30 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
