Capito


Capito is a genus of birds in the family Capitonidae. They are found in humid forests in South America, with a single species extending into eastern Panama. Slightly larger than the members of the genus Eubucco, members of the genus Capito are all sexually dimorphic and thickset, and have stubby pale bills that often are tipped black. With the exception of the somewhat aberrant scarlet-crowned barbet, black, red, orange, yellow and white are the dominating colours in their plumage, and males have at least partially black backs. Typically seen singly or in pairs, they are primarily frugivorous, but also take arthropods.

Taxonomy

The genus Capito was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot to accommodate a single species, the "Tamatia à tête et gorge rouge" that had been described in 1780 by the French naturalist, the Comte de Buffon. This is the black-spotted barbet that had been assigned the binomial name Bucco niger by the German zoologist Philipp Statius Müller in 1776 and is the type species of the genus. The genus name is from Latin capito, capitonis meaning "big-headed".

Species

The genus contains the following 11 species:
ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Capito auratusGilded barbetBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Capito aurovirensScarlet-crowned barbetBrazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Capito brunneipectusBrown-chested barbetcentral Amazon Basin, eastern Amazonas–western Pará states, North Region, Brazil
Capito dayiBlack-girdled barbetBolivia and Brazil.
Capito hypoleucusWhite-mantled barbetColombia
Capito maculicoronatusSpot-crowned barbetColombia and Panama
Capito nigerBlack-spotted barbetnortheastern South America, ranging as far south as the Amazon River and as far west as the Branco River
Capito quinticolorFive-colored barbetwestern Colombia and far north-western Ecuador
Capito squamatusOrange-fronted barbetwestern Ecuador and extreme southwestern Colombia
Capito wallaceiScarlet-banded barbetsouth-western Loreto, Peru
Capito fitzpatrickiSira barbeteastern Andes of Ucayali Department, Peru