African Barbets

From the tiniest tinkerbird with a dainty bill to the largest Pogonornis barbet with a hefty toothed bill, this is the most morphologically diverse barbet family. Lybiids are also the most variable of the barbets in rictal bristle development and extent of facial feathering; some species have completely naked heads and in others the bills are almost totally obscured by a profusion of long, adpressed bristles. Lybiids include the only barbets to spend a great deal of time on the ground, and some species burrow into earthen banks to nest rather than using the tree cavities preferred by all other barbets. Although they eat lots of fruit, these also may be the most insectivorous of all barbets.