sometimes do so lower at the edges. Their diet is almost entirely fruit, but young nestlings are fed insects. Small fruits are swallowed whole or only the interior may be squeezed out. Large fruits are torn apart to eat. Breeding Prong-billed barbets are monogamous and territorial in the breeding season. Their breeding season begins when pairs court in March and they begin excavating nest cavities in trees about in mid-month. Cavities are sited between above ground. The clutch size is four or five. The incubation period is 14 to 15 days; the time from hatch to fledging is not known. Both parents incubate the eggs and care for nestlings and fledglings. Vocalization The prong-billed barbet's song has been described as "a deep cwa-cwa-cwa-cwa...repeated many times" and as "a resonant, far-carrying, rather throaty cwa-cwa-cwa-cwa". Both sexes sing, frequently in duet, and also in a "chorus" by several birds. The species has a variety of calls including "low, dry rattling notes", " a nasal, squalling kwaaaah, and "a skurr; bark-like chuk notes; and an alarm cackle." Status The IUCN has assessed the prong-billed barbet as being of Least Concern. It has a small range, but its estimated population of between 20,000 and 50,000 mature individuals is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. "It is common within its range...and occurs in several parks and reserves in Costa Rica." References prong-billed barbet Birds of the Talamancan montane forests prong-billed barbet prong-billed barbet