Coppersmith Barbet the official Bird of Mumbai

In 2011, the Coppersmith Barbet (Psilopogon haemacephalus) was named as the ‘Bird of Mumbai’ by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). According to the Hindustan Times, the bird was bestowed this honour on the seventh annual Mumbai Bird Race. Coppersmith Barbet received maximum number of votes out of 3000 votes in a weeklong online contest. The oriental magpie robin, lesser flamingo and the house crow were the others nominated birds.

Coppersmith Barbet is one of the common birds found across the Mumbai city and its extended regions such as Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli and Navi Mumbai. I have spotted this bird in areas such as Sewree, Dadar and Kalyan. This bird was also spotted by other birdwatchers in areas such as Mahim Nature Park, Powai, Kanjurmarg, Vikhroli, Vile Parle, Borivali and Thane.

Coppersmith Barbet is a small multicoloured bird with crimson forehead, yellow face with black stripe and throat with combination of red and yellow. Their upper part is greenish and underparts are greenish yellow. The tail looks like truncated and short with triangular in shape. If you take a close look at the featured photo, you can see the bird has a small moustache too 🙂

According to Wikipedia, the bird is best known for its metronomic call that sound similar a coppersmith striking metal with hammer. They can be easily spotted by on fig or banyan trees as they feed on fruits of these trees. Likely to found in pairs or small groups. I have seen group of five tiny Coppersmith Barbets on a fig tree.

Lookout for fig trees in your areas. You may get to see Coppersmith Barbet enjoying the fig fruits.

Enjoy birding 🙂

Here are some photos of Coppersmith Barbet captured by me.

References:
1. Coppersmith Barbet
2. Coppersmith barbet is now the official Bird of Mumbai, The Hindustan Times

Read more on Indian birds
1. Birds of India – Part 1
2. Birds of India – Part 2
3. Indian Golden Oriole
4. Black-rumped Flameback Woodpecker
5. Common tailorbird
6. Green bee-eaters
7. Seagulls
8. Red-vented bulbul
9. Baya Weaver