A barbet of the Western Ghats and nearby peninsular India. Kerala observations found a fruit-rich diet that also included flowers.
It is about 23 cm long. Its body is green, its head is brown, and a white line runs above the eye and around the ear. The throat and breast are white, with conspicuous white cheeks.
In Kerala, pairs or groups of three to four are often in the canopy, feeding mainly on fruit and also on flowers.
It excavates a nest cavity in the trunk of a large tree.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.