African Barbets belong to the Lybiidae family, in the Piciform order.They are mainly solitary birds, eating insects and fruit. An individual barbet may feed on as many as 60 different species of fruiting tree or bush in its range. Barbets are thought to be important agents in seed dispersal. They also take a variety of arthropods (including insects, scorpions) and small vertebrates. They nest in holes made in a tree but some sociable species nest in riverbanks or termite nests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lybiidae