This colourful Southeast Asian mystery bird's call is what gave it its common name. Barbets are frugivorous birds that are thought to be important agents of seed dispersal in tropical forests. Like their distant relatives, the woodpeckers, barbets nest in tree cavities. Some species are kept in aviculture. Coppersmith Barbet (Statius Muller, 1776) has crimson forehead and throat which is best known for its metronomic call that has been likened to a coppersmith striking metal with a hammer. The red forehead, yellow eye-ring and throat patch with streaked underside and green upperparts, it is fairly distinctive. Juveniles are duller and lack the red patches. The sexes are alike.

Coppersmith barbets are found in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. In the Palni Hills of southern India it is said to occur below 4000 feet. In the Himalayas it is found mainly in the valleys of the outer Himalayas up to 3000 feet. They are rare in the dry desert zones and the very wet forests. They are mainly found in gardens, groves and sparse woodlands. Habitats with trees having dead wood suitable for excavation is said to be important. Birds nest and roost in cavities. They chisel out a hole inside a tree to build their nest.

They feed on Banyan, Peepal, and other wild fig trees, various drupes and berries, and occasional on insects, caught during aerial sallies. Petals of flowers are also sometimes included in their diet. They are mainly frugivore but will also feed on insects, especially winged termites. They eat nearly 1.5 to nearly 3 times their body weight in berries each day.

The breeding season is mainly February to April in India and December to September in Sri Lanka. Both sexes excavate the nest on the underside of a narrow horizontal branch. They may also roost inside the nest holes. Three or four eggs are laid and like in many hole nesting birds the incubation period is not well known but has been estimated to be about 2 weeks. Courtship involves singing, puffing of the throat, bobbing of the head, flicking of the tail, ritual feeding and allopreening. Best known for its metronomic call that has been likened to a coppersmith striking metal with a hammer. The call is a loud rather metallic tuk...tuk...tuk (or tunk), giving the bird its name. Repeated monotonously for long periods, starting with a subdued tuk and building up to an even volume and tempo, the latter varying from 108 to 121 per minute and can continue with as many as 204 notes. They are silent and do not call in winter.