Barbets are a group of medium sized, chunky, generally colorful, frugivorous, hole-nesting near-passerines, that are popular targets for anyone birding in the tropics. They occur in three biogeographic regions: the Neotropic, Afrotropic and Indo-Malaya ecozones, basically tropical South and Central America,...

(This article first appeared on focusingonwildlife.com) It has been said that our generation lives at the optimal time of the world’s history for birding and wildlife watching. Although vast parts of our natural heritage have been destroyed over the recent few centuries (sadly most rapidly during the...