Yellow Fronted Tinkerbird.
22nd February 2026
The Yellow Fronter Tinker Bird is a member of the barbet family. However, unlike most barbets which sing out in the open it sings from cover, and is therefore, more heard than seen.
These birds provide the backdrop sound of these woodlands, consisting of an onomatopoeic Tink Tink Tink which is repeated about once a second.
Resident breeders over much of Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, they usually inhabit broad leafed riparian woodland where they nest in hollowed out dead tree branches and trunks.
They feed on insects, and also mistletoe fruit which they swallow whole, the swallowed mistletoe seeds are then regurgitated and the sticky regurgitations are wiped on tree branches and as a consequence tinkerbirds are probably the biggest disperser of mistletoe within their range.
Sometimes they appear out in the open.
These birds provide the backdrop sound of these woodlands, consisting of an onomatopoeic Tink Tink Tink which is repeated about once a second.
Resident breeders over much of Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, they usually inhabit broad leafed riparian woodland where they nest in hollowed out dead tree branches and trunks.
They feed on insects, and also mistletoe fruit which they swallow whole, the swallowed mistletoe seeds are then regurgitated and the sticky regurgitations are wiped on tree branches and as a consequence tinkerbirds are probably the biggest disperser of mistletoe within their range.
Sometimes they appear out in the open.