A brightly colored bird that often sings brightly but usually cannot be seen from the canopy; listen to his repeated ‘took-o-rook!’ in 3 or 4 syllables.

The Blue-throated Barbet (Psilopogon asiaticus) is 9 – 11 inches (23 – 28 cm) in length, including the tail, and weighs approximately 2.7 – 3.6 oz (78 – 103 g). In general, these birds usually have green plumage with a bright blue neck and face. The forehead is red and the hat has a red-black border, creating the shape of the eyebrows. The forehead and hat are separated by a light blue patch. There are also two small red patches on both sides of the throat. The wings and upper tail area are green while the lower part is yellow-green. The lower tail is blue and the heavy-looking ivory bill is fringed with feathers. Eyes brown, legs gray.

Both male and female birds look very similar.

Young birds look similar to adults but are generally lighter in color.

An Asian barbet, these birds are native to the foothills of the Himalayas and Southeast Asia.

These birds depend on forest areas at altitudes of about 200 to 2000 meters including lowland forests, subtropical montane forests, primary and secondary forests and deciduous forests. They can also be found in and around plantations, rural gardens, urban parks and orchards.

Blue-throated barbets are often found in the forest canopy, eating figs, insects and some flowers. Although they will occasionally venture down to lower bushes and shrubs to forage.

These birds breed from March to July when a hole is dug about 1.5 meters above the ground, usually on the underside of a dead branch lined with grass, wool and other plant materials. 2 to 5 eggs are laid in it, which are incubated by both parents in turn for about 14 days. Both parents will also feed the chicks when they hatch and mature after 30-60-40 days.

Photo (cropped) Courtesy of nbu2012 / CC BY 2.0

The global population size of the blue-throated seabass (Psilopogon asiaticus) has not been quantified. Within its range, this barbet is said to be common. Its distribution scale is about 4,020,000 km2.