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The Brown-headed barbet (Psilopogon zeylanicus) is a bird found in India and Sri Lanka. Woods and gardens across India and Sri Lanka. It eats fruit, insects and other small invertebrates and reptiles and frogs. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Brown-headed barbet lives

Woods and gardens across India and Sri Lanka.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🍎 Fruit50%
• 🐛 Insects & bugs20%
• 🦎 Reptiles & frogs10%
• 🌸 Nectar10%
• 🌿 Leaves & plants10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Brown-headed barbet

Recorded by Nick Talbot (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1046671. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Brown-headed barbet

Where does the Brown-headed barbet live?

The Brown-headed barbet lives in India and Sri Lanka. Woods and gardens across India and Sri Lanka.

What does the Brown-headed barbet eat?

fruit (about 50%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 20%), reptiles and frogs (about 10%), nectar (about 10%), leaves and other plant parts (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Brown-headed barbet endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Asia

• Pied bush chat
• Grey treepie
• Grey francolin
• Pale-billed flowerpecker
• Indian spot-billed duck
• Common pheasant

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.