The black-collared barbet is one of the many duetting species in the genus "Lybius" and it regularly uses duetting in its day-to-day life. There are no solitary song instances heard from this species. Also, the repertoire of the duets do not vary greatly. This species is readily recognized by its loud duet, commonly rendered as ""too-puddly too-puddly too-puddly"" or "too-doodle too-doodle"... accompanied by wing-flicking. In addition to the wing-flicking, the birds in the pair face each other while calling and lean forward while bowing ceremoniously to each other. This bird produces a variety of calls including its snarling warning call and loud buzzing. The snarling could be the initiating sound of the duet.