India GO
Bird · Psilopogon virens
Great barbet
IUCN LC · Least concern
A heavy green barbet with a blue-black head and a thick yellow bill, calling endlessly from the tops of Himalayan trees.
How to recognise it
A mournful repeated «pi-o, pi-o» that carries across a whole valley from May onwards. The bird is high up and hard to see even when very close.
Where to see it
Mussoorie
Its call is one of the standard sounds of a Himalayan summer, and is often mistaken by visitors for a distant machine.
Jabarkhet Nature Reserve · Cloud's End · George Everest's House