Barbets

Brown-headed Barbet

Sexes alike. Grass-green plumage; brownish head, neck and upper back, streaked white; bare orange patch around eye. The White-cheeked Barbet M. viridis (23cm) of S India, has a white cheek-stripe. Solitary or in pairs; occasionally small parties; strictly arboreal; keeps to fruiting trees, often with other frugivorous birds; difficult to spot in the canopy; noisy in hot season; strong, undulating flight.

Coppersmith Barbet

Sexes alike. Grass-green plumage; yellow throat; crimson breast and forehead; dumpy appearance. The Crimson fronted Barbet M. rubricapillus of the W Ghats, south of Goa, has a crimson chin, throat, foreneck and upper breast. Solitary, in pairs or small parties; strictly arboreal; feeds on fruiting trees, often with other birds; visits flowering Erythrina and Bombax trees for flower nectar; often spends early morning sunning itself on bare branches.