Psilopogon rubricapillus
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 crimson-fronted barbet (Psilopogon rubricapillus), also called Sri Lanka barbet, is an Asian barbet endemic to Sri Lanka where it inhabits tropical moist lowland forests up to 1,300 m (4,300 ft) elevation. The crimson-fronted barbet was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the puffbirds in the genus Bucco and coined the binomial name Bucco rubricapillus. The specific epithet combines the Latin ruber meaning "red" with -caillus meaning "-capped" or "-crowned". Gmelin based his description on the "red-crowned barbet" that had been described and illustrated in 1776 by the English illustrator and naturalist Peter Brown. The crimson-fronted barbet is now one of 33 species placed in the genus Psilopogon that was introduced in 1836 by Salomon Müller. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The crimson-fronted barbet has a mainly green plumage and wings, a blue band down the side of the head and neck, and a black crescent behind the eye. It is 15 cm (5.9 in) long with a short neck, large head and short tail. Its... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 6 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Crimson-fronted Barbet sighting in Minneriya National Park on a given day, based on 205 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 40th most-seen of the 155 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Crimson-fronted Barbet in Minneriya National Park on a given day, against about 20% in July to December, the lowest months. That is one of Minneriya National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 340 mm in November.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crimson-fronted Barbet sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Crimson-fronted Barbet sightings, Minneriya National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka, about 30%).
Same genus: Psilopogon
The closest relatives of the Crimson-fronted Barbet that you can see in Minneriya National Park (genus Psilopogon, Typical Asian Barbets) are Brown-headed Barbet (about 70%) and Coppersmith Barbet (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crimson-fronted Barbet is recorded against all the birds logged in Minneriya National Park (205 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.
