Fire-tufted Barbet

Psilopogon pyrolophus

Beautiful emerald-green barbet. Note silvery cheeks, white forehead, and black chinstrap; namesake reddish tuft above the base of the bill is small and often difficult to see from a distance. Bulbous horn-colored bill has a large dark smudge down the center. Strange song is a loud accelerating creaking that is reminiscent of rusty machinery revving up.

Identification

The fire-tufted barbet is green with a brownish-maroon nape, grey lores, and a white band on the forehead. Its throat is green, followed by a bright yellow band before a black band, appearing like a necklace. The bill is fawn coloured with a black vertical band. It has tufts of feathers at the base of beak. The upper tufts of males are fiery orange. The adult fire-tufted barbet is 28 cm (11 in) long.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Psilopogon pyrolophus
Authority
Müller, S, 1836
Order
Piciformes
Family
Megalaimidae
Genus
Psilopogon

Range and habitat

The fire-tufted barbet inhabits broad-leaved evergreen montane forests between 1,070 and 2,010 m (3,510 and 6,590 ft) on the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.Three fire-tufted barbets observed on Mount Gede in West Java between 2003 and 2005 are thought to have escaped from aviaries in this area.

Migration
Resident species

Behavior

The fire-tufted barbet is a resident bird and feeds on figs, other fruits, arthropods and insects. Its call is very similar to that of cicadas.

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Gray-lored Broadbill

Gray-lored Broadbill

Serilophus rubropygius

A small, quiet bird with a distinctly silky, smooth-feathered appearance. Shape and pattern unique and unmistakable; note thick black stripe behind eye, dark wings with a glossy blue-and-black panel, and broad-based silvery bill. Usually moves around through the middle layers of foothill and montane forest. Does not often join mixed-species foraging flocks, instead tending to stick to medium-sized groups of its own species. Sometimes gives a smooth, fluid ‘teelee!’Formerly treated as a subspecies of Silver-breasted Broadbill.

Andean Negrito

Andean Negrito

Lessonia oreas

Tiny little terrestrial flycatcher, fairly common locally in open habitats of the high Andes, especially bogs and lakeshores. Feeds mainly by hopping on the ground, but perches readily on posts and fences. No similar species in range: male is black with a bright rusty back; female is dark sooty brown with a dull rusty back. In flight both sexes show whitish flash in wings (absent in Austral Negrito, which occurs in lowlands to the south).

Snow Partridge

Snow Partridge

Lerwa lerwa

A stone-colored terrestrial bird of stony hillsides, mountain ridges, and meadows above treeline. Adults speckled gray and white above, with dense rusty streaking on white underparts, red bill, and deep red legs. Usually forages in small groups, often in very exposed areas such as cliff sides and rocky ridges. Song, often given by multiple birds in a group simultaneously, is high-pitched and has a slippery, squeaky quality like wet shoes on tile; male song louder and ascending, female’s softer and descending.

Start Your Bird Watching Journey

Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.