Barbets are forest birds, generally brightly coloured with green bodies and heads splashed with bright red, blue and yellow. This species has a golden throat, crimson forehead, and a crown of fiery glistening orange. The name Barbet was derived from descriptions by early ornithologists of the conspicuous bristles over their nostrils which gave them a bearded look.
The ornithologist, T.C. Jerdon recorded that 'this handsome Barbet is very common at Darjeeling at an altitude of from 4,000 to 8,000 feet and upwards... it lives entirely on fruit.'
Both sexes are alike in colouring and are depicted lifesize.
T.C. Jerdon, Birds of India, 1862-64, I, p.314
DISTRIBUTION: Southeastern Asia: notheastern India, southwestern China, Burma, Thailand, northern and central Laos, northern and central Vietnam, and Malaya