Howdy, friends. Our bird this week is another barbet, this time from Asia. The blue-throated barbet is native to the Lower Himalayas in India, Pakistan, and through large segments of Southeast Asia. The Lower Himalayas are a subrange of the Himalayan mountains, one of four which comprise the range. This barbet lives in lowlands and montane forests, usually up to an altitude of 200–2,000 m (660–6,560 ft). It lives in deciduous, evergreen and teak forests, and is able to live in areas developed by humans as long as fruit trees are present. It has been described as ubiquitous throughout its range, and is adapted well to living around people. It usually in the upper forest canopy, from which it occasionally sallies to catch flying termites on the wing or to lower brush for other prey. It eats fruit, especially figs, as well as crickets, mantids and large centipedes. A fun fact I came across for the first time this week is that barbets are so named for the bristles which surround their beaks, I guess because they might seem like barbs.
The blue-throated barbet does not migrate, and is not sexually dimorphic, although females are (barely) larger than males. Juveniles look like adults, just with somewhat more muted plumage. Because the birds are green, they are often hard to spot in the forest, but both their flight and their apparently continual calls are very loud. Mating behavior involves both members of the couple eating and singing together. Both parents will work to excavate a nest in a tree trunk or branch, living or dead. They will occasionally reuse abandoned woodpecker nests. These nests are typically about 3–7.5 m (9.8–24.6 ft) above the ground and may be lined with woodchips and grass. In addition to working together to construct and arrange the nest, both birds will cooperate on providing continuous incubation for the eggs as well as feeding and raising the resulting young. The birds will hatch after 14 days and shortly later leave the nest.
The blue throated barbet is considered “of least concern” by the IUCN, on account of its very large range (around four million square kilometers, the largest of the barbets we have covered, I believe) and more or less steady population. Have a good weekend, be good to yourself and others.
Links: https://tinyurl.com/53nfejdt, https://tinyurl.com/4jp9ybmm, https://tinyurl.com/mtmsjaz9, https://tinyurl.com/27fayfwz, https://tinyurl.com/mwu4ea4c, https://tinyurl.com/326jcjx2, https://tinyurl.com/mr26h6cy
