BARBETS  -  CAPITONIDAE and TOUCAN-BARBETS  -  SEMNORNITHIDAE

Scarlet-crowned Barbet Capito aurovirens Sacha Lodge, Orellana province, Ecuador. Male. A barbet of secondary forest and lighter woodland. (D3)

Black-girdled Barbet Capito dayi Cristalino Jungle Lodge, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Male. Found mainly in southern Amazonian Brazil, barely reaching Bolivia. (S8)

Spot-crowned Barbet Capito maculicoronatus maculicoronatus El Valle de Antón, Coclé province, Panama. Male on the left and female on the right; a more detailed photo of the same female is below. This species is restricted to Panama and NW Colombia. There are two subspecies; the one in the first two shots is endemic to W Panama; it has orange rather than red flanks along with some other minor differences. (S8)

Spot-crowned Barbet Capito maculicoronatus maculicoronatus El Valle de Antón, Coclé province, Panama. Female. (S8)

Spot-crowned Barbet Capito maculicoronatus rubrilateralis Trail between El Valle and Utría National Park, Chocó department, Colombia. A family group. I think the female at the bottom is the mother, the male at the right is the father, and the others are young birds. This red-flanked subspecies is found in eastern Panama and NW Colombia. It was a hard bird to photograph since it always stayed high in the canopy. (S8)

Spot-crowned Barbet Capito maculicoronatus rubrilateralis Trail between El Valle and Utría National Park, Chocó department, Colombia. Male. (S8)

Orange-fronted Barbet Capito squamatus Pacto-Guayllabillas road, Pichincha province, Ecuador Male. This handsome species is nearly endemic to western Ecuador, but it it does just get into southeastern Colombia. (S5)

Orange-fronted Barbet Capito squamatus R-io Palenque Science Station, Los Ríos province, Ecuador. Female. (S7)

White-mantled Barbet Capito hypoleucus RNA Arrierito Antioqueño, Anorí, Antioquia department, Colombia. Male. This barbet is endemic to a fairly small area of central Colombia.  (D3)

Five-colored Barbet Capito quinticolor San Francisco, Esmeraldas province, Ecuador. Male. A Chocó endemic. In Ecuador, it only occurs in the far northwest near the border with Colombia. It is still surprisingly common in very disturbed forest south of San Lorenzo. This bird appeared to have a large tick above hsi right eye. He was singing. (S8)

Five-colored Barbet Capito quinticolor Humedal de Yalare, Esmeraldas province, Ecuador. Male. (D3)

Gilded Barbet Capito auratus punctatus Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos province, Ecuador. Male. (S8)

Gilded Barbet Capito auratus punctatus Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos province, Ecuador. Female on left, male on right. (S8)

Lemon-throated Barbet Eubucco richardsoni richardsoni Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos province, Ecuador. Male. This species lives in terra firme forest in the western Amazon. (S8)

Lemon-throated Barbet Eubucco richardsoni richardsoni Yasuní Research Station, Orellana province, Ecuador. Female. It's normally a canopy species, but this one came down quite low to feed in a small melastome tree by the side of a road. (S6)

Red-headed Barbet Eubucco bourcierii aequatorialis Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male. The aequatorialis race is almost endemic to western Ecuador, with males sporting more extensive red and brighter yellow underparts than other races. (S7)

Red-headed Barbet Eubucco bourcierii aequatorialis Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Female. (S7)

Versicolored Barbet Eubucco versicolor versicolor Manu road near San Pedro, Cusco region, Peru. Male. An especially brightly-colored barbet from Andean cloudforest in Peru and Bolivia. (S8)

TOUCAN-BARBETS  -  SEMNORNITHIDAE

Toucan Barbet Semnornis ramphastinus ramphastinus Refugio Paz de las Aves, Pichincha province, Ecuador. This gaudy bird is one of the iconic species of the mountains of NW Ecuador and SW Colombia. (S8)

Toucan Barbet Semnornis ramphastinus ramphastinus Refugio Paz de las Aves, Pichincha province, Ecuador. They sometimes visit banana feeders at Angel Paz's reserve. (S8)

Toucan Barbet Semnornis ramphastinus ramphastinus Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha, Ecuador. Now a regular visitor at the lodge. (S8)

Prong-billed Barbet Semnornis franzii La Cinchona, Heredia provinca, Costa Rica. Along with the Toucan Barbet above, the only other member of the Semnornithidae. It's amazing how these two sister species evolved so differently. Why would one evolve such bright and gaudy colors, and the other one turn out so much plainer? Their voices are quite similar, however. (D3)

Prong-billed Barbet Semnornis franzii Bosque de Paz, Alajuela province, Costa Rica. A family group. (S8)