Editor's note: The hollow, repetitive calls of barbets in the genus Psilopogon are a familiar background sound in tropical and subtropical Asia. In Japan, the calls would be completely out of place. Pictured above, clockwise from top left, are Chinese Barbet P. faber, Blue-throated Barbet P. asiaticus, Golden-throated Barbet P. franklinii, and the species in question here, Taiwan Barbet P. nuchalis. All copyright 2010-2017 by Craig Brelsford.

Yo’, Marty! Barbets Don’t Live in Japan

Editor’s note: The hollow, repetitive calls of barbets in the genus Psilopogon (above) are a familiar background sound in tropical and subtropical Asia. In Japan, however, the sounds of barbets are never heard, a point that may have eluded famed director Martin Scorsese.

by Craig Brelsford
Founder, shanghaibirding.com

I recently saw Scorsese’s Silence. At various points in the film, Taiwan Barbet Psilopogon nuchalis is audible in the background, even though the story takes place around Nagasaki.

Here is a snippet from Silence in which the barbets are particularly loud.

Silence was filmed in Taiwan. Scorsese probably was aware of the barbet sounds and left them in for a wild feel. Too bad barbets don’t occur on Kyushu or anywhere in Japan.

Can someone let Marty know?

(FICTIONAL) UPDATE: I got in touch with Marty! Here’s how the conversation went:

BRELSFORD: Yo’, Marty, you got the wrong birds in the wrong place in Silence. You really oughta take us birders into consideration.

SCORSESE: You talkin’ to me?

Featured photo, clockwise from top left: Blue-throated Barbet Psilopogon asiaticus, Yunnan; Chinese Barbet P. faber, Hainan; Golden-throated Barbet P. franklinii, Yunnan; and Taiwan Barbet P. nuchalis, Taiwan. (Craig Brelsford)

Reach us: info@shanghaibirding.com

Be notified every time we post. Send an
email with “Subscribe” as the subject to
info@shanghaibirding.com

Donate to Shanghai Birding!





Published by

Craig Brelsford

Craig Brelsford is the founder of shanghaibirding.com. Brelsford lived in Shanghai from 2007 to 2018. Now back home in Florida, Brelsford maintains close ties to the Shanghai birding community and continues his enthusiastic development of this website. When Brelsford departed China, he was the top-ranked eBirder in that country, having noted more than 930 species. Brelsford was also the top-ranked eBirder in Shanghai, with more than 320 species. Brelsford’s photos of birds have won various awards and been published in books and periodicals and on websites all over the world. Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, published in its entirety on this website, is the most Shanghai-centric field guide ever written. Brelsford is a graduate of the University of Florida and earned a master's in business administration at the University of Liege, Belgium.

4 thoughts on “Yo’, Marty! Barbets Don’t Live in Japan”

  1. Hi Craig, I agree with you that it can be quite annoying to get ripped of the feeling that the surrounding is authentic – in this case that the scenes are filmed in a different location than the action is said to be performed. However, this happens all the time, even in nature films where you’d expect producers to be more careful to pick the right background sounds. Just yesterday, I watched the National Geographic portrait of the Amur River (“The Black Dragon” – episode 2 out of 3). On several occasions, there were Eastern Wood-Pewee and Red-eyed Vireo in the background, obviously in the wrong continent. Funny enough, the same pewee call was heard in the first episode of BBC’s Planet Earth 2 that I watched last Sunday. In that case, I think it was when pictures from an offshore Panama island were shown, and even though North American wood-pewees migrate through Panama, they would not be calling that much… Nowadays, I have stopped being annoyed, and see it as an amusement and privilege to notice these things! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Shanghai Birding 上海观鸟