Yellow-fronted Barbet

Yellow-fronted Barbet
In Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Megalaimidae
Genus:	Megalaima
Species:	M. flavifrons
Binomial name
Megalaima flavifrons (Cuvier, 1816)

Yellow-fronted Barbet (Megalaima flavifrons) is an Asian barbet which is an endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka. Barbets and toucans are a group of near passerine birds with a worldwide tropical distribution. The barbets get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills.

Yellow-fronted Barbet is an arboreal species of forests and other woodland, including large gardens, which eats mainly fruit and only rarely insects. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2-3 eggs.

This is a medium-sized barbet at 21 cm. It is a plump bird, with a short neck, large head and short tail. The adult Yellow-fronted Barbet has a mainly green body and wing plumage, with a scaly appearance to the breast. It has a blue face and throat, and a yellow crown and moustachial stripes.

The call is a rolling kow-kow-kow-kow.

In culture

In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as Mukalang kottoruwa in Sinhala Language.^[1] Yellow-fronted Barbet appears in a 5 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp,^[2]

References

1. ^ http://www.bnhsenvis.nic.in/pdf/vol%203%20(1).pdf
2. ^ http://www.birdtheme.org/country/srilanka.html

• BirdLife International (2004). Megalaima flavifrons. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6