D'Arnaud's Barbet lives in open woodland and savanna in East Africa. Its orange head spots and black, yellow, and orange pattern stand out.
The nominate subspecies has orange spots on the head and white flecks on the back and tail. It has a black throat patch and breast band, yellow belly, and reddish vent.
It eats berries, fruits, and insects. It forages on low branches and on the ground in open woodland, savanna, and thorn scrub.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.