A large headed, beautiful bird with dark green feathers present in most residential areas of the city and very easy to locate in these days in the backyard. Its name is derived from the Latin work barba, meaning beard ( also the root of the word “barber” ). This bird has a number of stiff, hair like feathers or bristles that fringe its beak.
It is a bird that is definitely most frequently heard these days, even if not easily seen. It goes kutrook – kutrook in a loud and repetitive fashion throughout the day. Where the male stops, the female picks up and vice versa. Barbets are primarily fruit eating birds, though they don’t mind the occasional insect for a snack. Barbets serve the essential function of seed dispersal.
Barbets nest in the hollows of dead trees. Their eggs are usually laid in March and April, in chambers excavated by both parents in one of the larger branches of soft-wooded trees with a short neatly cut tunnel as entrance. Once the eggs are laid, both males and females take turns in incubating them. The off-duty parents usually stays close by, watching out for intruders. The parents are also very particular about keeping the nest clean by ridding it of excreta regularly.
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