Birds · Piciformes · Lybiidae

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Pogoniulus bilineatus

Least Concern

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

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

Lifespan

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.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

RainforestTemperate forestHerbivore Diurnal Solitary Bird Rainforest Temperate forest

12countries 23parks

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 them.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & 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: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-rumped_tinkerbird