Malabar barbet of alates), ants and small caterpillars. In Kerala, the fruiting trees were limited mainly to "Ficus" species, especially "Ficus retusa", "Ficus gibbosa" and "Ficus tsiela". When feeding on small fruits, they tend to perch and peck rather than to swallow the fruit whole. In the non-breeding season, they join mixed-species foraging flocks. Malabar barbet The Malabar barbet ("Psilopogon malabaricus") is a small barbet found in the Western Ghats of India. It was formerly treated as a race of the crimson-fronted barbet ("Psilopogon rubricapillus"). It overlaps in some places with the range of the coppersmith barbet ("Psilopogon haemacephala") and has a
North Malabar position of Kolathiri, although immensely respected, was politically titular. In North Malabar, the Kolathiri Kings had the ritualistic status of Perumaal such that their official designates or "sthanis" retained their jurisdiction all over Kerala except for the Rajarajashwara Temple at Taliparamba. The major festival observed by Hindus in this region is Vishu rather than Onam, which remains the major celebration for Hindus in the remainder of Kerala. In North Malabar, Vishu is celebrated as New Year. Because, the Kollavarsham month Medam - which is parallel to first Tamil month Chithirai - is the first month of the year for natives