Great Barbet (Psilopogon virens)

Other Names (World)
Great Barbet, Giant Barbet, Giant Hill Barbet, Great Hill Barbet, Great Himalayan Barbet, Himalayan Great Barbet

Family
Megalaimidae (Asian Barbets)

Size
32 - 35 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Boddaert, 1783)

Habitat
Deciduous and evergreen forests. Up to 2,400 m.

Range (Guide)

Bangladesh (B), Bhutan (B), China (mainland) (B), India (B), Laos (B), Myanmar (B), Nepal (B), Pakistan (B), Thailand (B), Vietnam (B).

North-western Himalayas to south-eastern Asia.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2020) and decreasing.

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Various calls including a churring, screechy 'keeah' and loud territorial 'kay-oh', repeated regularly at one-second intervals. Also a mournful 'peeao-peeao-peeao-peeao-peeao-...'.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (203)...)

Great Barbet (Psilopogon virens) [XC790573]
by Zhou Zhe \u5468\u54f2 from Nam Kat Yorla Pa (waterfall road), Oudomxay, Laos (song)

Great Barbet (Psilopogon virens) [XC881687]
by id from Pak Sha O, Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong, China (call)

Subspecies
Related to Red-vented Barbet (Psilopogon lagrandieri), but not very closely. Subspecies weakly to moderately marked. Indochinese birds, described as subspecies indochinensis, now considered indistinguishable from nominate. Birds of Mishmi Hills (north-eastern Assam) formerly recognized as subspecies mayri, but inseparable from clamator.

The following 6 subspecies are recognised:

marshallorum (Swinhoe, 1870) - North-eastern Pakistan and north-western India east to western Nepal.
magnifica Stuart Baker, 1926 - Eastern Nepal east to central Assam.
clamator (Mayr, 1941) - North-eastern Assam, northern Myanmar, south-western China (western Yunnan) and north-western Thailand.
virens (Boddaert, 1783) - Central Myanmar and south-eastern China south to north-central Thailand and northern Vietnam.
mayri (Ripley, 1948) - North-eastern Assam (north-eastern India).
indochinensis (Rand, 1953) - Northern Vietnam.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Great Barbet (Psilopogon virens) - 10 files

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BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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