Distribution

Toucan Barbet is restricted to the Andes of western Colombia and western Ecuador, at elevations of 1000-2400 m (Restrepo and Mondragón 1998). In Colombia, Toucan Barbet occurs on both slopes of the western Andes, north to Valle (Meyer de Schauensee 1949, Hilty and Brown 1986). In Ecuador it occurs south to western Cotopaxi (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001a).

Endemic to the Americas.

Toucan Barbet occupies the canopy of humid premontane to montane evergreen forests (Hilty and Brown 1986, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001a). It also utilizes dense second growth, overgrown pastures and dense growth with scattered trees around gardens (Freile and Chaves 2004).

None reported.

The earliest fossils of barbets date from the early and Mid-Miocene of Europe and the early Miocene of central Florida. No transitional fossils between barbets and toucans have been found (Short and Horne 2001). The split between extant toucans and their close relatives is estimated to have happened around 10 million years ago (Patané et al. 2009). No fossils of Semnornis are reported.