About the Blue-throated Barbet
The blue-throated barbet (Psilopogon asiaticus) is a green Asian barbet native to the foothills of the Himalayas and Southeast Asia. It inhabits lowland and montane forests at elevations of 200–2,000 m (660–6,560 ft), frequenting fruiting trees. Due to its green colour, it is difficult to spot but is easily located by its continual loud calls. Sexes are similar in most respects and share domestic duties.
The Blue-throated Barbet was originally placed in the genus Cyanops by Latham in 1790. This was subsequently synonymized with Megalaima. In 2013, phylogenetic studies indicated that Psilopogon is embedded within Megalaima. Psilopogon has priority, hence the genus Megalaima was subsumed into Psilopogon. The Blue-throated Barbet has previously been considered conspecific with the Turquoise-throated Barbet (Psilopogon chersonesus) and the Mountain Barbet (Psilopogon monticola) (11), but molecular data confirm that these are distinct species.
Psilopogon asiaticus has two sub-species: Red-crowned blue-throated barbet P.a. asiaticus (Latham, 1790) is resident from NE Pakistan to W, N Myanmar and SW Yunnan Blue-crowned blue-throated barbet P.a. davisoni (Hume, 1877... Wikipedia →