Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Bird watching - White-cheeked Barbet

White-cheeked barbet



The white-cheeked barbet is a small green barbet found only in southern India. It has a distinctive whitish supercilium and a broad whitish cheek stripe below the eye. It has brown head with whitish streaking. The neck, nape and breast are brown with whitish streaking.The bill is pale pinkish.

Local Names : 
Malayalam - chinnakutturuvan
Tamil – Chinna Kukkuruvaan 
Hindi – Chhota basanta



Like many other barbets of Asia, white-cheeked barbets are green, sit still, and perch upright making them difficult to spot. During the breeding season which begins at the start of summer their calls become loud and constant especially in the mornings. Heard more often than seen.



The diet of white-cheeked barbet consists mainly of fruits. Wild fruits, figs, cultivated fruits, berries are their primary food. These species occasionally eat insects.
These white-cheeked barbet are known to raid orchards, fruit plantations, rural gardens and urban fruit trees, causing considerable damage to the fruit crops.


The nest hole is usually made in dead branches.Both sexes excavate the nest and it can take about 20 days to complete the nest. Eggs are laid about 3–5 days after nest excavation. About 3 eggs are laid. The incubation period is 14 to 15 days. During the day both sexes incubate, but at night, only the female sits on the eggs. 
These white-cheeked barbet species are non-migratory, resident birds.


References
The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)
Wikipedia
indianbirds.thedynamicnature.com

Pictures:
Thoovampallil house, Chettikulangara, Kerala(2018, 2019) 

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