Black-browed barbet

Black-browed barbet
File:Black-browed Barbet.ogg
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Megalaimidae
Genus:	Psilopogon
Species:	P. oorti
Binomial name
Psilopogon oorti (Müller, 1836)
Synonyms
Megalaima oorti

The black-browed barbet or Müller's barbet (Psilopogon oorti) is a bird belonging to the Asian barbet family, Megalaimidae.

Description

It is 20-23.5 cm long. The plumage is mostly green apart from the head which is patterned with blue, yellow and red. There is a black stripe above the eye. The bill is black and the feet are grey-green.

It has a scattered distribution in south-eastern Asia. It occurs in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The Indochinese barbet was formerly considered a subspecies. Three further subspecies of black-browed barbet are now commonly treated as two separate species: the Chinese barbet (P. faber) of southern China and the Taiwan barbet (P. nuchalis) of Taiwan.

Habitat

It inhabits tropical and subtropical forests. It forages in the upper and middle levels of the canopy. It excavates a nest hole in a tree but little else is known about its breeding habits.

References

• MacKinnon, John & Phillipps, Karen (2000) A Field Guide to the Birds of China. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Robson, Craig (2002) A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. New Holland, London.