Black-backed Barbet (Lybius minor) [XC552064]
by Dries Van de Loock from Kasanka National Park, Zambia (call)
Black-backed Barbet (Lybius minor) [XC566367]
by Dries Van de Loock from Mutinondo Wilderness area, Northern Province, Zambia (call)
Subspecies
Related both to Brown-breasted Barbet (Pogonornis melanopterus) and to the Double-toothed Barbet (Pogonornis bidentatus) group, latter including that species and the superspecies formed by Bearded Barbet (Pogonornis dubius) and Black-breasted Barbet (Pogonornis rolleti). Subspecies macclounii considered a separate species by some, but interbreeds with nominate minor over a considerable area (south-western Zaire to north-central Angola). Form sometimes referred to as "intercedens" is hybrid between those subspecies.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
minor (Cuvier, 1816) - Southern Gabon to western Zaire and south to west-central Angola.
macclounii (Shelley, 1899) - North-eastern Angola, south-central Zaire, southern Burundi and western Tanzania south to northern and western Zambia and north-western Malawi.