The Red-vented Barbet inhabits forests in Laos and Vietnam. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a blue line above the eye, red undertail coverts, and reddish bristles at the base of the bill.
Adults of the nominate subspecies have green or bronzy-green plumage and a mostly brown head. The sides of the face and throat are grayish, with a blue line above the eye, red undertail coverts, and reddish-tipped bristles over the nostrils at the bill base.
It uses evergreen and semi-evergreen forest in lowlands and on wooded slopes and ridges. Its recorded foods include figs and insects.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.