Anyone ever kept Barbets?

[Alasdair Ingram]

Whilst at a recent bird sale i saw a person offering for sale a couple of different types of Barbets.
Having little knowledge of these birds and my reference books being quite vague , i was wondering if anyone out there can give me pointers as to housing/heating, willingness to breed etc as i think these wee birds may find a place in my aviaries in the future.

[laurab]

....And I can understand why! They look such interesting birds. I first saw one at Marwell Zoo and was really taken with it.

I also saw, and fell in love with a ground Hornbill. She had such long eyelashes!

I have seen some Barbets for sale in this area, but they weren't cheap.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Alasdair,

If you name the Barbet species you came accross then we may be able to help you more?
Barbets aren't typical in their nesting habits, this family of birds are widespread in their range and moreso in their requirements for breeding.

Paul.

[Waxbillman]

i'll second what Paul has said, depends on what species you have,

its best to give them access to an indoor shelter for the winter just in case but they can have access to the outdoor flight throughout the year, you could make a nest box out of hollow logs to make it for natural, or just the usual nesting box depends on like Paul said the species, give them a good diet of softbill food with various livefood and mince meat, as well as chopped fruit

thats what i have observed anyway from some one who has them

Matthew

[Alasdair Ingram]

The birds that were for sale included D'Arnaud's , Red and Yellow and another much smaller type who's name escapes me at this time.
I did see a pair of Bearded Barbets for sale at a dealers a long time ago and that is where my original interest stems from.
I have no set idea as to what type to go for ( more probably the larger types such as the Bearded ) and my main reason for thinking about them was that i have space to build a smaller aviary in the garden and thought that these birds would be of a size suitable for a smaller aviary, ( by "smaller" i mean about 6x3 minus the size of a shelter).
Thanks aswell Matthew , it seems that their diet's will be mostly the same as the Jays anyway.
RE laurab's ground hornbills , i too saw these birds at a zoo a while ago and when i stayed on my parents farm my long term aim was to aquire a pair. I saw them frequently for sale at a dealers and i even started to collect telegraph poles in order to provide frame work for their enclosure. Their accommodation layout was also marked out on the ground much to my parents delight!.
I guess it would be the same as a parrot keeper wanting eventually to try and breed Macaws!

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Alasdair,

The other small Barbets you saw for sale wouldn't happen to be Tinker Birds would they?

Barbets of any species aren't regarded as free breeders, some species can be destructive towards aviary woodwork, and the diet Matthew has described is ideal, but obviously if and when breeding occurs then the Livefood/protein levels will need to be raised in order to rear chicks.

Some Barbet species excavate ground chambers to nest in rather than nesting in tree hollows.

Chris from Birdtrek should be a big help towards further info on Barbets.

All the best mate, Paul.;)

[Alasdair Ingram]

Thanks again Paul , the diet for the birds does seem roughly the same as the Jays and come next summer i will be "pushing" for some sort of result from any of the Jays so their diet will be the best it can be .
Tinkerbirds sounds like a possibility , I'm far from an expert on Barbets but i'm sure i'd recognise them again, and tinkerbirds does sound familiar.
Interesting about the ground excavations , certainly a new one on me. I guess that will save me from mounting my hundred weight nest boxes on the aviaries frame ;-) .
The Barbets are just a thought for just now , i have room for a smaller flight - just no set ideas as to what to fill it with.Barbets appeared the right size and genre for me.
Hopefully Stafford will enlighten me more and give me an idea for what's next on the agenda.

[Waxbillman]

if i remember correctly the tinkerbirds i knew of bred in/on the log of a tree fern stump, as its not true wood, its basically a combination of dead fronds and aerial roots, making then structure reletively soft.

good luck

and if you do find some at Stafford and your aviary is built i would advice you to get them, whilst they are available

Matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Alasdair,

I was worried by your comment that certain Barbets excavating nest burrows in the ground was a new one on you.:?

So I've just checked that my comment regarding certain Barbets excavating nest burrows in the ground is correct, and guess what?

Despite some conflicting information, it seems that both D'Arnaud's and Red and Yellow Barbets do in fact nest in this way,:-D from reading information found on the internet both species will either nest in Termite mounds, river banks or banks alongside roads (the latter is also known with certain Bee-eater species too).

So I would suggest that if you build a new aviary with either of these two species in mind as future occupants, then it would be a very good idea to either build the aviary on top of a base of hardcore, concrete and then a brick wall, or suround the perimeter with buried plastic sheeting of some kind to prevent nesting birds from escaping.

The information Matthew has found on Tinkerbirds is also contradicted to a degree, some sources state that they excavate their own tree hollow nests, while other sources mention that they take over previous nest holes and modify them for their own use.:roll:

I do agree with Matthew 100% on his comment that if you do find the birds that you are looking for at Stafford then grab them while you can.


All the best, Paul.:wink:

[Waxbillman]

hello Paul

they may well of taken over a pre-excurvated holed, like i say i cannot quite remember, as its was 2 years ago, but most likely it was their own doing

Matthew

[Alasdair Ingram]

Ahhh , right , i picked you up wrong , when you said hole in the ground i assumed ( wrongly) that you mean't a la bunny rabbit. I was aware however that they nested in bankings and termite mounds and if i remember correctly , a few years ago someone had written in to Birdkeeper magazine stating how they built an artificial termite mound using a weak sand and plaster/cement mix (can't remember which) in order to breed kingfishers of some sort. Enquiries to continue into that one...

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Alasdair and Matthew,

Alasdair,

If I remember correctly, I have read an account of captive Barbets (Sp??) digging their own nesting chamber into the level earth floor of their aviary.
If I'm correct on this, then as I said before it may be a good security measure to provide a sunken barrier around the aviaries perimeter, we can never predict the actions of our birds, and if they were to choose to begin their tunnel nest on the perimeter of the aviary then Scotland may have it's first record of wild Red and Yellow or D'Arnauds Barbets?:lol:

The idea of a false Termite mound (or even a small raised bank) is peachy one,:-D with the choice of sand and plaster, or sand and cement for this purpose, then I would opt for sand and plaster, but maybe include peat or short lengths of grass, hessian or coconut fibre etc into the mixture to add slightly more strength?

Matthew,

I wasn't disputing the source of the information you have mate,;) but the information I have found through search engines.
Some say the various Tinkerbirds excavate their own nests, while others say they take over existing nest cavities, at the end of the day as many of us know there is no set rule on what a particular bird species will choose as a nest site in captivity, so the same must be true under wild conditions.

The best rule to follow is to provide as many nest site options as possible, the number of sites, position and design.

Paul.;)

[Alasdair Ingram]

Fair enough, they do dig bunny style then. on further investigations into my reference book collection one does state that the Flame headed Barbet ( Eubucco Bourcierii ) may tunnel into the aviary floor. This however is the only reference to digging in any of my books , whether or not it it a (major :?: ) , oversight by other authors , who have allegedly kept them - i do not know.

RE the termite mound , it's certainly a good idea using grasses etc to strengthen it , and i'm sure plaster is more suitable as cement is highly irritant and would be more likely to give chemical burns on unprotected fledgling skin.I still haven't found the article concerned.

[laurab]

Some photos' I took when I last went to Marwell Zoo

[Waxbillman]

brilliant Laura

Matthew

[Alasdair Ingram]

Hornbills rule !!! ;) (although Touracos do come close!)