[1] Bucco virens was the scientific name proposed by Pieter Boddaert in 1783 for a great barbet that had been described by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1781 based on a specimen collected in China.

[4] It was placed in the genus Megalaima proposed by George Robert Gray in 1842 who suggested to use this name instead of Bucco.

[12] The great barbet has a blue head, large yellow bill, brown and green-streaked body, belly and a red vent.

It is the largest barbet species with a body length of 32–35 cm (13–14 in) and a weight of 192–295 g (6.8–10.4 oz).

[11][13] The great barbet is a resident breeder in the lower-to-middle altitudes of the Himalayas, ranging across northern Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan, Bangladesh and some parts of Southeast Asia, as far away as Laos.