Barbets: Families of Tree-hugging Birds

Figure 01. This appealing female Black-Spotted Barbet looks around then offers her opinion about being photographed.

This is the third of several blogs about the Piciformes order of birds and its nine highly diverse families. The first blog in this series introduced the order and three of the nine families: Galbulidae, jacamars; Bucconidae, puffbirds; and Indicatoridae, honeyguides, https://bird-brain.org/2026/08/30/piciformes-tree-hugging-birds-part-1/ . The second blog introduced the Ramphastidae family of toucans, https://bird-brain.org/2026/09/07/piciformes-tree-hugging-birds-part-2/ .

The current blog introduces the four barbet families: Capitonidae, Semnornithidae, Megalaimidae, and Lybiidae. It then focuses especially on the Capitonidae family of New World (Americas) barbets and the two-species Semnornithidae family, comprising Prong-billed and Toucan Barbets. This blog is organized as follows:

Barbets (all four families)
Capitonidae, New World Barbets, including the Black-spotted Barbet
Semnornithidae — 1 genus, 2 species: Prong-billed Barbet and Toucan Barbet
References

Future blogs will probe the other barbet families: Megalaimidae, Asian barbets, and Lybiidae, African barbets, as well as the Picidae family of woodpeckers and their allies.

Barbets

Barbets are spread across four families within the Piciformes order of birds: Capitonidae, Semnornithidae, Megalaimidae, and Lybiidae. For all four families, their taxonomy (scientific classification) is as follows: kingdom, Animalia; phylum, Chordata; class, Aves; order, Piciformes; suborder, Pici; infraorder, Ramphastides. At one time, all barbets were included in one family, but later evidence revealed that though diverse barbets and toucans were related, many of the barbets were better classified as separate families, also separated from the toucan family, Ramphastidae. Each of these families has evolved characteristics that are unique to each and not present in the other families. Genetic evidence links these families, but the exact relationships are not yet clear.

Appearance

Barbets are typically smaller than toucans — some much smaller. The smallest barbets are the 10 “tinkerbirds,” in the Pogoniulus genus within the Lybiidae family. The two smallest tinkerbirds are the Western Tinkerbird, Pogoniulus coryphaea, and the Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Pogoniulus subsulphureus — both about 3.5–3.9 inches (9–10 cm) long, weighing from less than 0.3 ounces to about 0.5 ounces (7.5–13 g).

The largest barbet is the Great Barbet, Psilopogon virens, about 13–14 inches (32–35 cm) long, weighing about 6.8–10.4 ounces (192–295 g). In sum, the barbets can be 3.5–14 inches (9–35 cm), bill to tail, weighing 0.2–10.4 ounces (7.5–295 g). Compare these sizes with the smallest and largest toucans: The smallest toucan, the Lettered Aracari (Pteroglossus inscriptus), is about 11 inches (28 cm) long, weighing about 4.6 ounces (130 g); the largest, the male Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco), is about 22 inches (56 cm) long, weighing about 28 ounces (794 g).

Figure 02. Barbets are a diverse collection of birds scattered across four families within the Piciformes order. On the left, a Black-spotted Barbet female, from the Capitonidae family of New World barbets; middle, Fire-tufted Barbet, from the Megalaimidae family of Asian barbets; right, Bearded Barbet, from the Lybiidae family of African barbets.

The body shape of barbets tends to be compact and stout, with very little neck between the large head and the body. Their short, stout, sharp-tipped bills, often decurved (curving downward), serve them well for handling both fruits and insects. They may also use their bills for excavating nest holes or burrows in dead trees or in earthen banks (or possibly in insect nests). At the opposite end of their bodies, they have short, strong legs, ending in zygodactyl toes (two pointing forward, two pointing backward).

Most barbets have distinctively colorful plumage, though the plumage of some Lybiidae species is duller. Most male and female barbets look similar, but in a few species, they’re sexual dimorphic, with the two sexes looking different. Most species in the Megalaimidae family have distinctive rictal bristles (specialized feathers that can look like eyelashes or mustaches), but those in the other three barbet families either don’t have them, or the bristles are short and sparsely distributed.

Vocalizations

Visit https://xeno-canto.org/explore?query=barbet to see more than 4,000 (4,078 when I visited) recordings of 83 species of barbets. Across the spectrum of barbets, they may be heard harshly squawking, nasally honking, trilling, melodically whistling or piping, popping, rattling, grating, and more — said to be quite loud for such small birds. In many barbet species (especially in the Lybiidae family), mated pairs and even cooperative-breeding groups sing duets to one another, especially during the breeding season. Some duets are so perfectly synchronized that it seems as if only one bird is singing. It’s thought that these songs not only affirm the pair bond but also aid in establishing dominance hierarchies and in territorial defense.

Distribution

Barbets are mostly distributed in the tropics; some may be found in the subtropics, and a few have ranges on the edge of temperate regions. Barbets are found on three different continents. Species in both the Capitonidae and the Semnornithidae families are found in the Americas — mostly in South America. The Megalaimidae family’s species are found across southern Asia, and the Lybiidae family’s species are chiefly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Habitat

The main habitat requirement for barbets is the availability of trees, so they’re mostly found in various kinds of woodlands and forests — tropical rainforests, scrublands, farmlands, or even gardens will do if there are enough trees. They feast on fruits and insects found in trees, and they need dead trees in order to excavate nest cavities for raising their families.

Migration

Barbets do not migrate seasonally, though some will migrate up or down in elevation, in response to seasonal changes in climate and in the abundance of fruits and insects.

Food and Foraging

Barbets are mainly frugivores, but many also supplement their fruity diet with invertebrates (especially insects), and some also consume small vertebrates (e.g., lizards, nestlings of other birds), especially during the breeding season, when the protein needs of nestlings is high.

Figure 03. Chiefly frugivores (fruit eaters), barbets (such as this female and male Black-spotted Barbets) also consume invertebrates, particularly larval insects.

Locomotion

Having short, strong legs with zygodactyl toes gives barbets an advantage when clambering up and around on tree trunks. Barbets also hop about on tree branches and can use their tails as a support when climbing on tree trunks. The smaller species appear to be more agile and quick than the larger species of barbets, but none have difficult getting around in the trees.

Most of the year, barbets are seen as individuals or in pairs, especially during breeding season. Outside of breeding season, however, some barbet species will socialize in small groups or even in mixed-species flocks. Most species of barbets are strongly territorial.

Breeding

All barbets raise their families in nest cavities, which they excavate themselves, by digging into dead trees or by burrowing into earthen banks. Some barbets have been willing to use nest boxes, termite mounds, or other existing nest locations, however.

For the most part, barbets are monogamous, and each couple participates in a long courtship, during which the duo excavates a nest cavity together, and the male will courtship-feed his mate. Some species in the Lybiidae family of African barbets breed cooperatively, with pairs having helpers to raise their offspring. In some species of African barbets, and in one species of Asian barbets, groups of barbets will nest colonially in a single tree.

The female typically lays 2–5 white eggs, but 1–7 eggs have been seen. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 12–19 days, then both parents feed and brood the hatchlings for about 4–6 weeks (17–46 days). (Note that most cavity nesters lay white eggs, as there’s no need to camouflage the eggs, which cup nesters often need to do.)

Conservation Status

All four families of barbets include imperiled species:

Capitonidae includes 4 VU, Vulnerable, and 4 NT, Near Threatened species
Semnornithidae includes 1 NT, Near Threatened species
Megalaimidae includes 4 NT, Near Threatened species
Lybiidae includes 1 VU, Vulnerable, and 1 NT, Near Threatened species

Capitonidae, New World Barbets

Etymology

The family name Capitonidae comes from Latin capito, meaning “head,” and these barbets do have large heads, as well as thick heavy bills. (I briefly introduced this family in my previous blog, “Exotic Birds — Black-spotted Barbet,” from February 24, 2025,
https://bird-brain.org/2025/02/24/exotic-birds-black-spotted-barbet/#Capitonidae .)

Figure 04. Members of the Capitonidae family, such as these female (left) and male (right) Black-spotted Barbets, have big heads with thick, heavy bills.

Taxonomy

The Capitonidae family was first described in 1838 by Napoleon’s nephew, naturalist and ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. This family includes 2 genera, across 15 species: 11 species in the Capito genus and 4 species in the Eubucco genus. Fossils of barbets in this family, dating back as far as the Miocene era (23–5 million years ago), have been found in Florida.