Barbet is a small- to medium-sized brightly colored bird. It gets its name from the bristles at the base of its stout, sharp bill. Barbets live in the tropics, from Central America, through Africa south of the Sahara, to Southeast Asia. Asian and American species are mainly green with red, blue, and yellow markings. African barbets are mainly black, red, and yellow. They are heavily spotted and streaked.
Most barbets nest in excavated holes in dead trees or termite mounds. They feed on fruit, flowers, insects, small birds, and reptiles.
Barbets have loud, repeated calls. Small African barbets known as tinkerbirds have repetitious ringing calls that have given them their other common name, brain-fever birds.
