White-headed Barbet (Lybius leucocephalus) [XC614369]
by Brendan Sloan from Mandegee farm, oloitoktok, Kenya (call)
White-headed Barbet (Lybius leucocephalus) [XC156365]
by Rory Nefdt from Mbere, Adamawa, Cameroon (call)
Subspecies
Related to Zambian Barbet (Lybius chaplini) and Red-faced Barbet (Lybius rubrifacies), though not very closely. All fairly close also to Vieillot's Barbet (Lybius vieilloti). Subspecies albicauda and leucogaster have sometimes been considered separate species. Subspecies albicauda interbreeds with other subspecies wherever they meet, but leucogaster is isolated geographically.
Proposed subspecies usukumae (south-east of L Victoria) possibly recognizable and represents populations intermediate between albicauda or lynesi and nominate leucocephalus. Birds from northern Tanzania described as subspecies pareensis considered inseparable from albicauda.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
adamauae Reichenow, 1921 - Northern and central Nigeria east to southern Chad, western Central African Republic and north-western Zaire.
leucocephalus (De Filippi, 1853) - Possibly eastern Central African Republic, and southern Sudan and north-eastern Zaire to north-western Tanzania and west-central Kenya.
senex (Reichenow, 1887) - Central and south-central Kenya. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Brown-and-white Barbet (Lybius senex).
albicauda (Shelley, 1881) - South-western and southern Kenya to northern Tanzania.
lynesi Grant, CHB & Mackworth-Praed, 1938 - Central Tanzania.
leucogaster (Barboza du Bocage, 1877) - Highlands of south-western Angola. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, White-bellied Barbet (Lybius leucogaster).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet