Coppersmith Barbet

With its favorite food

Coppersmith Barbets look more like colorful variants of house sparrows, whom they resemble in terms of size. Strikingly green with red-and-yellow face, it can be somewhat hard to see in the backdrop of bright green leaves, which is its favorite haunt. But definitely much more attractive!!

Most likely places to see these are Banyan and Peepul trees, whose fruits these birds enjoy a lot. They make a lot of noise when they get together, so take a second look if you hear anything. Apart from fruits, Salim Ali mentions that these birds also eat termites occasionally, but I have only seen these on fruit-bearing trees.

Close cousins of White-cheeked Barbets, these tend to be smaller, about the same size as sparrows, but stockier and generally looking stronger, with a marked difference in bills.

Scientific name for this bird is Megalaima haemacephala.