Psilopogon viridis
Silhouette: Rohit N · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The white-cheeked barbet or small green barbet (Psilopogon viridis) is a species of Asian barbet found in southern India. It is very similar to the more widespread brown-headed barbet (or large green barbet, Psilopogon zeylanicus), but this species has a distinctive supercilium and a broad white cheek stripe below the eye and is found in the forest areas of the Western Ghats, parts of the Eastern Ghats and adjoining hills. The brown-headed barbet has an orange eye-ring but the calls are very similar and the two species occur together in some of the drier forests to the east of the Western Ghats. Like all other Asian barbets, they are mainly frugivorous (although they may sometimes eat insects), and use their bills to excavate nest cavities in trees.
Bucco viridis was the scientific name proposed by Pieter Boddaert in 1783 for a green barbet that had been described by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 based on a specimen collected in India. It was illustrated by François-Nicolas Martinet in a hand-coloured plate. It was placed in the genus Megalaima proposed by George Robert Gray in 1842 who suggested to use this name instead of Bucco.
Its type locality is... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bengaluru | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Kollam | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Mysuru | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Colachel | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India |
Very likely
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a White-cheeked Barbet sighting in Periyar National Park on a given day, based on 7,539 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the most-seen of the 227 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and September
In those months about 90% of wildlife watchers report a White-cheeked Barbet in Periyar National Park on a given day, against about 70% in July and October–December, the lowest months. Those are among Periyar National Park's driest months, with about 110 mm of rain a month against 410 mm in August.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-cheeked Barbet sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 5 parks where we can rate White-cheeked Barbet sightings, Periyar National Park has the highest daily chance: about 80%. Next come Mudumalai National Park (India, about 60%) and Nagarhole National Park (India, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Psilopogon
The closest relatives of the White-cheeked Barbet that you can see in Periyar National Park (genus Psilopogon, Typical Asian Barbets) are Malabar Barbet (about 50%) and Coppersmith Barbet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-cheeked Barbet is recorded against all the birds logged in Periyar National Park (7,539 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.
