The Malabar barbet is an Asian barbet native to the Western Ghats in India. It was formerly treated as a race of the crimson-fronted barbet. It overlaps in some places with the range of the coppersmith barbet and has a similar but more rapid call.
Region
Western Ghats, India
Typical Environment
Found along the Western Ghats from lowland foothills to mid-elevation forests. It inhabits evergreen and moist deciduous forest, forest edges, and wooded ravines. The species readily uses human-modified habitats such as coffee and cardamom plantations, orchards, and tree-lined gardens when fruiting trees are available. It is most frequently encountered around fruiting figs and other native fruit trees.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Endemic to India’s Western Ghats, the Malabar barbet is often located by its rapid, metronomic call, faster than that of the coppersmith barbet it often overlaps with. It excavates its own nest cavity in dead wood or soft trunks and plays an important role in seed dispersal by swallowing fruits whole. Frequently visits fruiting fig trees, making it conspicuous despite its green camouflage.
Adult on an Erythrina
Temperament
quiet and arboreal, often unobtrusive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with direct, undulating flights between trees
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or small family groups, especially at fruiting trees. Pairs excavate nest cavities in soft or dead wood and share incubation and chick-rearing duties. Breeding generally coincides with the pre-monsoon to monsoon period when food is abundant.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Delivers a rapid, rhythmic series of metallic tuk or tonk notes, often in long, steady bouts. The tempo is notably faster than that of the coppersmith barbet and can carry far through forest edges.
