The Coppersmith Barbet or Crimson-breasted Barbet is a colorful and the most common of the Barbets. The Barbet name refers to the bristles around its bill.
It lives in southern Asia. It primarily eats fruits, but will also take insects.
Classification:
Order: Piciformes
Family: Capitonidae
Genus: Megalaima
Species: M. haemacephala
Photos:
Crimson-breasted Barbet
" The Coppersmith Barbet or Crimson-breasted Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala), is a bird with crimson forehead and neck. It is a resident near passerine bird from South Asia, with occasional presence in Southeast Asia. The name barbet refers to the bristles or barbs fringing its heavy bill. It may sometimes be referred to simply as Coppersmith. The Coppersmith Barbet is a resident breeder practically throughout South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc.), and is extralimital in Southeast Asia, with related races in Indonesia and the Philippines. The most common barbet, it is found in plains, foothills and terai up to 200m in dry- and moist-deciduous biotope. It is entirely arboreal (like most barbets), preferring open wooded country and urban gardens and avoiding dense forest[2]. Local names: Hindi: chhoTA vasant, Bengali: chhoTo basanta, bhAgirath, Gujarati: TukTukiyo Sinhala: mal kottoruwA Tamil: sinna kukuruvAn). The call is a loud rather metallic tuk…tuk…tuk (or tunk), reminiscent of a copper sheet being beaten, giving the bird its name. Repeated monotonously for long periods, starting with a subdued tuk and building up to an even volume and tempo, the latter varying from 1.5 to 2 per second. The beak remains shut during each call - a patch of bare skin on both sides of the throat inflates and collapses with each tuk like a rubber bulb, with much body and tail shaking. Not very vocal in cold weather - a spell of rain or cold immediately silences them, but it is "one of India’s most familiar sounds in the hot season"
Photo courtesy of Umang Dutt
Crimson Breasted Barbet
"Also known as Coppersmith Barbet Megalaima haemacephala Taken @ Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India"
Photo courtesy of The Eternity
Crimson Breasted Barbet - Feeding
Photo courtesy of Avanindra
Coppersmith Barbet
"Coppersmith Barbet"
Photo courtesy of Rajendra Pradhan
Gaurav Bhatnagar posted a photo:. Coppersmith Barbet. Picture taken at the Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India End of October 2008. Read more…
Video:
Commentary:
Coppersmith Barbet! | Lutfar Rahman Nirjhar’s Blog!
I took this shot from Jahangir Nagar University Campus, in TSC area. This tree was a Banyan Tree. This bird with his folks was dancing over the branches of that. Read more…
Waiting for the night to fall at Dindigul, gave me the opportunity to see this bird in action. I noticed the bird flying into a hole in bark of a tree. The colouration of the bird attracted me to it. The bird had something in its beak … Read more…
Early this month I got a picture of a coppersmith barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) sitting in a tree at VC Rock in USM. This is the first time I’ve ever photographed a barbet. If you look closely, you can see its whiskers. Photobucket … Read more…
Coppersmith Barbet facing the Common Myna
Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala)fight with Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) Who is in control here?. Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) try to take control of this small perch, but the Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima … Read more…
