page_title: Toucan barbet
section_title: Habitat and distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Toucan barbet / Habitat and distribution
caption_attribution_description: Cloud forest near Mindo, Ecuador
context_page_description: The toucan barbet is a barbet native to western Ecuador and Colombia. Along with the prong-billed barbet, it forms the family Semnornithidae, and is closely related to the toucans. It is a medium-sized barbet with a robust yellow bill. It has striking plumage, having a black head with grey throat and nape, red breast and upper belly, yellow lower belly and grey wings and tail.
  The toucan barbet is native to humid montane forests, where it occupies all levels of the canopy and is found in both primary and secondary forests, as well as forest edges. It is social, living in small family groups which work together to defend their territories and raise the chicks communally. It feeds on fruit and a range of animal prey, with insects being an important part of the diet of chicks. It sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks. Chicks are raised in cavities dug into large, usually dead trees.
  Young toucan barbets are preyed upon by plate-billed mountain toucans. The species is considered to be near threatened, mainly due to trapping for the cage-bird trade.
context_section_description: The species is native to the humid forests of the western Andes, from the Andean slopes of northwest Ecuador to southwest Colombia, at altitudes of 1,400–2,400 m (4,600–7,900 ft). It uses all forest strata, showing some preference for the upper canopy of the forest (11–20 m (36–66 ft)) and the subcanopy (6–10 m (20–33 ft)). The species also uses secondary forest and forest-edge habitats. Evidence suggests that these birds are very specific in choosing trees for nesting. It usually prefers old trees in the family Lauraceae. As nesting trees of sufficient diameter are not very common in these forests, habitat loss through logging is impacting the species.
caption: Cloud forest in Ecuador
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