Lybius vieilloti
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Vieillot's barbet (Lybius vieilloti) is a small bird in the family Lybiidae. Barbets are a group of near passerine birds with a pantropical distribution which get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. This bird is named after the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.
The Vieillot's barbet is a resident breeder in the African scrubland on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert from Senegal to Ethiopia. It is often found along wooded creeks in Zaria, Nigeria and its breeding season takes place during the months of April to July. It is an arboreal species of savannah and farmland which eats insects and fruit, especially figs. It nests in a tree hole, laying three eggs.
This is a sparrow-sized barbet at 15 cm (5.9 in). It is a plump bird, with a short neck, large head and short tail. The adult has a red head, and the neck and breast are a mixture of red and white. The upperparts are dark brown apart from a yellow stripe down the back. The rest of the underparts are yellowish with dark flank spotting. The bill is thick and dark grey. Sexes are similar, but immature birds are duller.
This species of African barbet is...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mole National Park | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 2 | Kakum National Park | 🇬🇭 Ghana |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Vieillot's Barbet sighting in Kakum National Park on a given day, based on 61 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 146th most-seen of the 250 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and May
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Vieillot's Barbet in Kakum National Park on a given day, against about 10% in April and June–February, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Vieillot's 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.
Among the best
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Vieillot's Barbet sightings, Kakum National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Mole National Park (Ghana, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Vieillot's Barbet is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakum National Park (61 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
