The Moustached Barbet, Megalaima incognita, is an Asian barbet

Megalaimidae

A family of birds comprising the Asian barbets, the Megalaimidae were once united with all other barbets in the Capitonidae but they have turned out to be distinct...

. Barbets are a group of near passerine

Near passerine

Near passerine or higher land-bird assemblage are terms often given to arboreal birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines due to ecological similarities; the group corresponds to some extent with the Anomalogonatae of Garrod All near passerines are land birds...

 bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s with a world-wide tropical distribution. They get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills.

The Moustached Barbet is a resident breeder in the hills of Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

 and Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. It is a species of broadleaf evergreen forest from 600-700 m. It nests in a tree hole.

This barbet is 23 cm in length. It is a plump bird, with a short neck, large head and short tail. The bill is dark horn, and the body plumage

Feather

Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...

is green. The adult of the form, M. i. elbeli, which occurs in northern Thailand has a red forehead, green crown with a red spot at the rear, a blue face and throat, and black eyestripe and moustache. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile has a duller, greener head and throat with a narrower moustache..

The other subspecies are nominate M. i. incognita in Myanmar and western Thailand, and M. i. eitroa in southeast Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The male’s territorial call is a repeated loud u’ik-a-ruk u’ik-a-ruk u’ik-a-ruk.

External links

• Image at ADW