- Source: List of New World barbets
New World barbets are birds in the family Capitonidae in the order Piciformes. The New World barbets are plump birds, with short necks and large heads. Most species are brightly coloured, with bold patterns of mainly green, red, yellow, white, or black. Their rictal bristles (stiff hair-like feathers at the base of the beak) are shorter and less dense than those of the Asian and African barbets. They are native to the Neotropics of South and Central America, where they inhabit a variety of forests.
There are currently 15 extant species of New World barbets recognised by the International Ornithologists' Union.
Conventions
Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the barbet's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IOC World Bird List for that species unless otherwise noted. Population estimates are of the number of mature individuals and are taken from the IUCN Red List.
This list follows the taxonomic treatment (designation and order of species) and nomenclature (scientific and common names) of version 13.2 of the IOC World Bird List. Where the taxonomy proposed by the IOC World Bird List conflicts with the taxonomy followed by the IUCN or the 2023 edition of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, the disagreement is noted next to the species's common name (for nomenclatural disagreements) or scientific name (for taxonomic disagreements).
Classification
The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) recognises 15 species of New World barbets in two genera. This list does not include hybrid species, extinct prehistoric species, or putative species not yet accepted by the IOU.
Family Capitonidae
Genus Capito: eleven species
Genus Eubucco: four species