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  3. Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Birds · Piciformes · Lybiidae

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Pogoniulus bilineatus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.

Spotted something wrong?

The yellow-rumped tinkerbird is a tiny bird of the African forests, black and yellow with two pale stripes on the face. It feeds almost entirely on figs and on the berries of African mistletoe, whose seeds it disperses. Its call is one of the most persistent sounds of the African forest: a metallic tok repeated for hours without variation.

Weight

10 g – 17 g

Size

9 cm – 11 cm

Life expectancy

10 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

RainforestTemperate forest
12countries23parks

Fun facts

  • Its call is a metallic tok repeated for hours with the regularity of a metronome, likened to the tapping of a tinsmith: hence its English name, tinkerbird.
  • It is the main disperser of the seeds of African mistletoe, which stick to its bill and which the bird cleans off by wiping them against the bark of another tree, literally planting them in the exact spot where they will germinate.
  • It excavates its nest in the soft dead wood of dry branches, like a woodpecker in miniature, despite not being related to woodpeckers.

Life cycle and biology

Skeleton type
Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat and environment
Rainforest, gallery forest and plantations of sub-Saharan Africa
Sexual maturity
12 months
Gestation / incubation
13 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size
3 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (en): Yellow-rumped tinkerbird

Where to find it

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The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.

Where to see it

Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented — showing 10 of 23.

Related species

Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.

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Keep exploring

Based on what we already know about yellow-rumped tinkerbird.

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See full glossary
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See its range on the interactive map→
Kruger National ParkSouth Africa
KilimanjaroTanzania
BwindiUganda
GorongosaMozambique
KakumGhana
SalongaDemocratic Republic of the Congo
DjaCameroon
AberdareKenya
SemulikiUganda
KorupCameroon
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CountriesCameroon
ParksKruger National ParkSouth Africa
TagsHerbivore
Herbivore
Diurnal
Solitary
Bird
Rainforest
Temperate forest
Cameroon
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mozambique
Tanzania
Uganda
Kenya
Angola
Cameroon
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethiopia
Ghana
Kenya
Mozambique
Nigeria
South Africa
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia