The communal roosting behaviour and nesting of a group-living species, the Yellow-breasted Barbet Trachyphonus margaritatus in Djibouti

Abstract

The African barbets (Lybiidae) are widespread and emblematic African birds, occupying a variety of habitats and usually conspicuous in their plumage colour and loud vocalizations. Some species live in pairs while others form small groups or colonies. Despite such diversity of social organization, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding the social behaviour for most of the group-living barbets species. In this study, we collected data on the communal roosting behaviour and the nesting activity of the Yellow-breasted Barbet Trachyphonus margaritatus somalicus in Djibouti. To do so, we monitored 21 roosting sites from 19 territories in four years between 2019 and 2023. Group size ranged from a single pair to more than ten individuals per group. Each group occupied a specific roosting site where several cavities were dug. The group members slept together within one cavity, and for most groups the roosting site did not change over the years of the monitoring. During the nesting period, the group members slept with the eggs and chicks within a single cavity that served for both roosting and nesting. Barbet cavities were also used by other bird species suggesting potential inter-specific competition with other cavity nester species.