BARBET, the general name for birds of the family Capiton idae. They inhabit the warm regions of the world, but are absent from Australia. The plumage is usually predominantly green and the beak large and stout. They feed mainly on fruit and lay several white eggs in holes in trees. The blue-throated barbet (Cyanops asiatica), of eastern Asia, is the best known in cap tivity. The family also includes the coppersmith (q.v.) and the South African tinker (Barbatula pusilla), the latter a small black, yellow and white bird with a red cap.