The Green Barbet has one of the most unique distribution patterns of any South African bird. It is restricted in southern Africa to a single locality, Ongoye Forest, just inland of the coastal town of Mtunzini in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The estimated population size in the forest is 200-300 pairs. The next closest representatives occur in Malawi some 1500 km away. Several other disjunct populations occur even further north in tropical Africa south of the Equator.

The Ongoye Forest birds belong to a distinctive subspecies characterized by pale yellow feathering on the face. They were first discovered by the enigmatic Woodward brothers in the late 1800s and this subspecies was named after them (woodwardi). Amazingly, another isolated population found on the Rondo Plateau just inland of coastal south-eastern Tanzania, and no less than about 2200 km north of Ongoye, share this facial feature and are classified as the same subspecies.

The Ongoye population is clearly a relic from a time when Africa was much warmer and wetter than it is now. Climatic modelling confirms that the Ongoye region is uniquely buffered against climatic extremes that would eliminate such forest types over much, if not all, of the rest of South Africa.

Like other members of its family, the Green Barbet is primarily a frugivore with a particular liking for figs. It is no surprise that Ongoye Forest has a uniquely high diversity and density of fig tree species compared with other South African forests. This provides a year-round supply of food for the birds and explains why they are absent from other local forests that lack this unparalleled richness.

No South African birder worth their salt has failed to make the pilgrimage to this remote and magical forested refuge to marvel at this stubborn avian survivor.

Bird illustrations are from Sasol Birds of Southern Africa published by Struik Nature. Illustrations © by Norman Arlott are used with kind permission of the Arlott family.
www.struiknature.co.za