Oluwa Rathu Kottoruwa

Local Name : Crimson-fronted Barbet
Scientific Name : Megalaima rubricapilla (Gmelin)

Identification:
Slightly larger than a sparrow. Sexes alike. The bright green upperparts, orange-yellow-face and throat-patches, and very small scarlet breast-spot, distinguish it from the Crimson-breasted Barbet.

Behaviour:
Out of the breeding season it is very gregarious, forming large, scattered flocks especially in the neighbourhood of fruiting trees, such as banyan, bo, and other wild figs; like all barbets it is predominantly a fruit eater. After gorging themselves, they repair to the top branches and indulge in their hobby of vocal music, making the air pulsate with the chorus of pop op oping-to the distraction of their human audience.

The breeding season is from January to June. The nest-hole is indistinguishable from that of the Crimsone-breasted Barbet, but is more often, I think, dug into the lower surface of a sloping branch rather than into an upright post, and is usually higher in a tree than with that species. Dead branches of breadfruit, dadap, and flamboyant are much favoured as nesting site by both species. Two or three white eggs are laid on the bare wood at the bottom of cavity; they measure about 25.5 x 18.2 mm.

Locations:
This is a very common bird in cultivated or openly-wooded country throughout the wet zone up to 4,000 feet, and in scattered colonies in parts of the dry zone.