Brown-headed Barbet

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Brown-headed Barbet

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Megalaimidae
Genus:	Megalaima
Species:	M. zeylanica

Binomial name

Megalaima zeylanica
Gmelin, 1788

at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.

The Brown-headed Barbet or Large Green Barbet^[1] (Megalaima zeylanica) is an Asian barbet. Barbets and toucans are a group of near passerine birds with a world-wide tropical distribution. The barbets get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills.

The Brown-headed Barbet is a resident breeder in India and Sri Lanka. It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats fruit and insects. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2-4 eggs.

This is a relatively large barbet at 27 cm. It is a plump bird, with a short neck, large head and short tail.

The adult has a streaked brown head, neck and breast, with a yellow eye patch. The rest of the plumage is green. The bill is thick and red. Sexes are similar.

The White-cheeked Barbet largely replaces this species in the Western Ghats and hilly parts of southern peninsular India although both species may occur in many places. The calls of this species is similar but the white cheek patch is distinctive.

The call is a repetitive kutroo…kutroo…kutroo. Others take up the call when one starts. Somewhat silent in the winter.

[edit] References

^ Ali, Salim; JC Daniel (1983). The book of Indian Birds, Twelfth Centenary edition. Bombay Natural History Society/Oxford University Press. bird #309.

BirdLife International (2004). Megalaima zeylanica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6

[edit] Gallery

Preening at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.
at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.	at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.	‎ at Infosys, Bangalore, India	in Delhi, India.
in Delhi, India.