[2][4][5] The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Birds of the World acknowledges that the "Sira" form is significantly different from the nominate and suggests that it be accorded species rank.

A strikingly colored species, its cap and nape are scarlet, while a broad white supercilium separates the crown from the black ear coverts.

Below, the throat and upper breast are white, bordered below by a broad scarlet band, while the rest of the underparts are shades of yellow.

[6] The scarlet-banded barbet has been found only on a ridgetop known as Peak 1538 in the remote Cordillera Azul National Park in south-western Loreto, Peru.

While it appears to be fairly common, its range is tiny and the total population has been estimated at fewer than 1000 individuals.