The order
Piciformes is made up of the woodpecker family Picidae plus 8 other families. Picidae make up about half of the species. In general, the Piciformes are insectivorous, but some exceptions eat mostly fruit. Nearly all Piciformes have parrot-like feet—two toes forward and two back, an arrangement that has obvious advantages for birds that spend much of their time on tree trunks. And most Piciformes do not have down feathers at any age, only true feathers. All nest in cavites.
There are three barbet families:
Capitonidae (New World),
Lybiidae (African), and
Megalaimidae (Asian). This article describes the Asian barbets.
The family
Megalaimidae is comprised of the
Asian barbets. Until recently they were considered to be part of the New World barbet family, Capitonidae. They are usually plump-looking, with large
heads, and their heavy bill is fringed with bristles.
The Asian Barbets eat mainly fruit, but also insects.
Genus Calorhamphu
These barbets are thought to have genetically diverged from the other Asian barbets around 21 million years ago.
Barbet,_Brown Caloramphus fuliginosus
Barbet,_Sooty Caloramphus hayii
Image by:
1, 2) Lip Kee - Malaysia
Genus Psilopogon
This genus contains all the Asian barbets except for brown barbet and the sooty barbet, both of which are in
Caloramphus. They are also referred to as the green barbets because all most all of these species have mainly green plumage. Their colorful heads help identify the individual species. The largest Asian barbet is the great barbet which is up to 35 cm long while there are a number of species that are around 15 cm long. Asian barbets favor fruits, especially figs of which they are a major distributor of seeds. They also eat insects, especially during breeding season. These barbets have their nests in trees, most in cavities that they excavate in dead wood. The red-throated barbet will excavate the nest cavity in an arboreal termite mound.
Barbet,_Black-banded Psilopogon javensis
Image by: 1)
Francesco_Veronesi - west Java
Barbet,_Black-browed Psilopogon oorti Found:
Asia
Image by:
1, 2) Hiyashi
Haka
Barbet,_Bornean Psilopogon eximius
Image by:
Nicolas Le Jeune
Barbet,_Blue-eared Psilopogon duvaucelii
Image by:
1)
Jerry Oldenettel - Thailand 2)
Lip Kee - Thaiand
Barbet,_Blue-throated Psilopogon asiaticus
Image by: 1)
Darren Bellerby - Edward Youde Aviary, Hong Kong 2)
Mdf - India 3)
Francesco Veronesi - Bhutan 4)
Koshy_Koshy
Barbet,_Brown-headed Psilopogon zeylanicus
Image by: 1)
Yagnesh_Desai 2)
Anton Croos 3)
JM Garg - India 4)
Shrikant_Rao in India
Barbet,_Brown-throated Psilopogon corvinus
Image by:
Nicolas Le Jeune
Barbet,_Chinese Psilopogon faber
Image by: 1)
John_Gerrard_Keulemans
Barbet,_Coppersmith Psilopogon haemacephalus
Image by: 1)
Budak 2)
JM_Garg - India 3)
lonelyshrimp - Thailand
Barbet,_Crimson-fronted Psilopogon rubricapillus
Image by: 1)
Dhammika Heenpella - Sri Lanka 2)
Shareez_Assan - Sri Lanka 3)
Ratnayake - Sri Lanka
Barbet,_Fire-tufted Psilopogon pyrolophus
Image by:
1, 2) Dick Daniels -
Zoo Miami 3)
Doug_Janson 4)
Francesco_Veronesi
1, 2, 3) Female 4) Male
Barbet,_Flame-fronted Psilopogon armillaris Found: Indonesia
Image by: 1)
Lip Kee 2)
Eko_Prastyo - Bali 3)
Francesco_Veronesi - Bali
Barbet. Golden-naped Psilopogon pulcherrimus
Image by: 1)
Seshadri 2)
David Cook
Barbet,_Golden-throated Psilopogon franklinii
Image by: 1)
Franceso Veronesi 2))
Jason_Thompson - Thailand 3)
JJ Harrison - Thailand
Barbet,_Golden-whiskered Psilopogon chrysopogon Found: southeast Asia
Image by: 1)
LonelyShrimp - Malaysia 2)
Tu7uh
Barbet,_Great Psilopogon virens
Image by: 1)
Darren Bellerby 2)
Prateik_Kulkarni 3)
Meghana Kulkarni - Uttarakhand, India 4) Alan Hopkins -
India
Barbet,_Green-eared Psilopogon faiostrictus
Image by: 1)
JJ_Harrison - Thailand 2)
Jason_Thompson - Thailand 3)
Rushenb - Thailand
Barbet,_Indochinese Psilopogon annamensis
Barbet,_Lineated Psilopogon lineatus
Image by: 1)
Johnny_Wee 2)
THE PHOTOMATION 3)
J. M. Garg - India 4)
Andy_Li - Hong Kong
Barbet,_Little Psilopogon australis
Image by: 1)
Francesco_Veronesi - East Java
Barbet,_Malarbar Psilopogon malabaricus
Image by: 1)
Nanda ramesh 2)
TR_Shankar_Raman
Barbet. Mountain Psilopogon monticola
Image by: 1)
Marcel Holyoak - Malaysia
Barbet,_Moustached Psilopogon incognitus
Image by: Rushen - Thailand
2, 3) Xavier Sandel
1) Juvenile
Barbet,_Red-crowned Psilopogon rafflesii Found: southeast Asia
Image by:
1, 2) Lip Kee - Malaysia 3)
9V1BH
Barbet,_Red-throated Psilopogon mystacophanos Found: southeast Asia
Image by:
1, 2) Lip Kee 3)
Marcel Holyoak - Malaysia
1) Juvenile female
Barbet,_Red-vented Psilopogon lagrandieri
Image by:
Huet
Barbet,_Taiwan Psilopogon nuchalis
Image by: 1)
Sean Tang 2)
Ainus 3)
John_And_Fish 4)
Robert tdc
Barbet,_White-cheeked Psilopogon viridis
Image by: 1)
Antony Grossy 2)
Naveen_Lakshmanareddy 3)
J Sudheesh 4)
Challiyil_Vipin
Barbet,_Yellow-crowned Psilopogon henricii
Image by: 1
Nicolas le Jeune 2)
Andrew Siani
Barbet,_Yellow-fronted Psilopogon flavifrons
Image by: 1)
David_Cook 2)
Lip Kee 3)
Thimindu Goonatillake