Psilopogon asiaticus
Silhouette: Vijay Cavale (photo), John E. McCormack, Michael G. Harvey, Brant C. Faircloth, Nicholas G. Crawford, Travis C. Glenn, Robb T. Brumfield & T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
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 →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 2 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 7 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 8 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 9 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-throated Barbet sighting in Kolkata on a given day, based on 3,915 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 24th most-seen of the 247 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and April
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-throated Barbet in Kolkata on a given day, against about 20% in September and December–January, the lowest months. Those are among Kolkata's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain a month against 330 mm in July.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-throated Barbet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Blue-throated Barbet sightings, Kolkata ranks 5th at about 40%. The best odds are in Guwahati (India, about 70%), Berhampore (India, about 50%) and Kathmandu (Nepal, about 50%).
Same genus: Psilopogon
The closest relatives of the Blue-throated Barbet that you can see in Kolkata (genus Psilopogon, Typical Asian Barbets) are Coppersmith Barbet (about 40%) and Lineated Barbet (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-throated Barbet is recorded against all the birds logged in Kolkata (3,915 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
