A mid-sized brown barbet with pale yellow covering the head and chin. Immature is duller than the adult, with some yellow facial skin and pale coloration on the bill. Has a paler head, smaller wing patches and higher-pitched call than the similar Whyte’s Barbet. It is a low-density resident in Miombo (Brachystegia) woodland, favoring riverine areas with fruiting fig and sugar plum trees. Song a nasal “hooo-hooo-hooo” which often reveals its presence.