Coppersmith Barbet

 

Coppersmith Barbet (in Malay, Takur Akar)

Barbets are large-headed, heavy-billed birds with short necks and a pudgy body. The name ‘barbet’ is from the bristles around their bills. 



About 15 species of barbet occur in Malaysia, mostly in deep woodland. The coppersmith barbet is an exception, as it is commonly found in gardens and open woodland. 

Courtship behaviour: bobbing the head and flicking the tail.

The coppersmith barbet has a “tuk… tuk… tuk” call that reminded some listeners of a smith striking copper with a hammer to make pots and pans.  Other people liken these birds to a metronome because the call can continue at a steady beat for as long as two minutes! (https://www.xeno-canto.org/290585)

Barbets are in the same family as woodpeckers. However, unlike woodpeckers, barbets mostly eat fruit; they also can catch and eat flying termites.  While figs are preferred, they are known to eat the fruit of more than 60 different trees. The reason they need such a varied diet is because they have hearty appetites. A bird that weighs only 50 grams can eat about 150 grams of fruit and berries in a day.  

Both woodpeckers and barbets are cavity nesters, carving out holes in a tree. Whereas woodpeckers are adapted to chipping away at solid wood, barbets need trees with dead branches and soft wood in order to make their nests.  If you are trimming trees in you garden please remember to leave a short piece of the dead branch on the tree.  The branch below is about the right length, unfortunately it is open at the top.

An unsuitable cavity that failed the inspection; notice the open rooftop.


Perched on an exposed branch 

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