display view on top of action bar

There is a much simpler way to achieve this. ActionBar holds its layout in the class ActionBarContainer which simply inherits from FrameLayout. So in order to display something over the ActionBar you need to grab a reference to the ActionBarContainer and add your own custom View into it. Here is the code

    int abContainerViewID = getResources().getIdentifier("action_bar_container", "id", "android");     
    FrameLayout actionBarContainer = (FrameLayout)findViewById(abContainerViewID);      
    LayoutInflater myinflater = getLayoutInflater();        
    View customView = myinflater.inflate(R.layout.yourCustomeViewLayout, null);
    actionBarContainer.addView(customView);

I found this workaround based on @Sean answer:

        //This is for Jelly, ICS, Honeycomb
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB && Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR2){
            LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(resContent, (ViewGroup)((LinearLayout)wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(1), true);}
        //This is for KitKat and Jelly 4.3
        else if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR2){
            LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(resContent, (ViewGroup) (((ViewGroup) wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(0)), true);}
        //This is for Ginger
        else{
            LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(resContent, (ViewGroup) ((LinearLayout)((FrameLayout) wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(1), true);}

I was trying to achieve something else but I needed a solution similar to this. I needed to draw an opaque layer covering the whole screen, even the action bar--sort of like a dialog. I did so this way:

ViewGroup vg = (ViewGroup)(getWindow().getDecorView().getRootView());
vg.addView(myNewView, params);

this can be used to draw anything anywhere on the screen.

UPDATE: You really shouldn't be using ActionBar anymore, you wouldn't have this issue in the first place if you were using Toolbar like Android recommends. Toolbar would go inside your activity xml like a regular view and you can can do whatever you want to it. And its fully backwards compatible. https://developer.android.com/training/appbar/setting-up

After struggling with it myself quite some time, here's the solution (tested it - working good):

The general steps are:

1. Create a wrapper view
2. Detach the screen view children, place the wrapper, and attach the children
3. Inflate the content to the children
4. Controling the wrapper will help you control exactly the action bar and the content below it all together.
5. Now, using the wrapper, you can add "brothers" to the actionbar/main area. That brother is exactly what you described in your image.

Let's see some code.

First, create a method to help create a wrapper view. the wrapper will be placed between the entire screen and the content of your app. being a ViewGroup you can later on fully control it's content.

private ViewGroup setContentViewWithWrapper(int resContent) {
        ViewGroup decorView = (ViewGroup) this.getWindow().getDecorView();
        ViewGroup decorChild = (ViewGroup) decorView.getChildAt(0);

        // Removing decorChild, we'll add it back soon
        decorView.removeAllViews();

        ViewGroup wrapperView = new FrameLayout(this);

        // You should set some ID, if you'll want to reference this wrapper in that manner later
        //
        // The ID, such as "R.id.ACTIVITY_LAYOUT_WRAPPER" can be set at a resource file, such as:
        //  <resources xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
        //      <item type="id" name="ACTIVITY_LAYOUT_WRAPPER"/>
        //  </resources>
        //
        wrapperView.setId(R.id.ACTIVITY_LAYOUT_WRAPPER);

        // Now we are rebuilding the DecorView, but this time we 
        // have our wrapper view to stand between the real content and the decor
        decorView.addView(wrapperView, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
        wrapperView.addView(decorChild, decorChild.getLayoutParams());
        LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(getActivityLayout(), 
                    (ViewGroup)((LinearLayout)wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(1), true);

        return wrapperView;
    }

Now, interfere with the regular Activity creation, and instead of using setContentView, use the method we've created.

    @Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    // DON'T CALL `setContentView`, 
    // we are replacing that line with this code:
    ViewGroup wrapperView = setContentViewWithWrapper(R.layout.activity_layout);

    // Now, because the wrapper view contains the entire screen (including the notification bar
    // which is above the ActionBar) I think you'll find it useful to know the exact Y where the 
    // action bar is located.
    // You can use something like that:
    ViewGroup actionBar = (ViewGroup)((LinearLayout)wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(0);
    int topOffset = actionBar.getTop();

    // Now, if you'll want to add a view:
    //  1. Create new view
    //  2. Set padding top - use "topOffset"
    //  3. Add the view to "wrapperView"
    //  4. The view should be set at front. if not - try calling to "bringToFront()"
}

That's about it.

Notes

• I've used Android's hierarchy-viewer to understand what's the right hierarchy. (didn't guess those 0 and 1 indexes)
• If you are using some kind of a menu drawer in your activity, you might have to configure it a little bit different since drawers are already creating that wrapper for you
• I've learned a lot by looking at this great library

EDIT: Refer to @CristopherOyarzúnAltamirano Answer for further support on newer Android versions

Good luck!