Malaysian Birds
Blue-throated Barbet
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Size & diagnostic markings:- 23 cm. The Blue-throated is a fair size Barbet. Slim, particularly our Malaysian sub species with a blue face and crown. The supercilium is a narrow black streak much less conspicuous than that on the Black-browed. Then a dash of red on the side of the breast. Distribution :- Coming from around the same region of the Blue-eared i.e. North-eastern Pakistan, north-eastern Indian sub continent and south-west China. Habitats & preferences:- For us in Malaysia, this is a hard to find Barbet as they are always in the canopy level of hills to a region just below the sub-montane level. So very little chances of exploring these forested surroundings. In fact, I have no clue as to where to search for the birds other than knowing that this is a birds of the rolling hills. These could only be along the country roads of some altitude leading to the hill resorts of Cameron Highlands and Frasers Hills. With a bit of luck, there was this patch of forest with a few fruiting trees. Somehow the fruits were attractive to a few types of Barbets. Among them was the Blue-throated. What rare opportunity! Got one miserable shot of the adult while the rest of the pictures were those from the juveniles and sub-adult which are not representative. I would say that meeting up one in Malaysia is not easy. Still on a look out for more decent pictures. In Bukit Tinggi, the birds shown on this page were among a crowd of 4 species of Barbets.
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