This bird has a
caring mate
There
are about 49 species of Hornbill found in South Asia,
Africa, Indonesia and the Solomons, Philippines and
Malaysia, writes Nutan Shukla
HORNBILLS
are famous for their curious nesting habits and the
devotion of male towards its mate. They nest chiefly
between March and June before the monsoon sets in. After
pairing, they select a suitable tree-hole in which female
settles down for egg-laying. When she is satisfied with
the place, both male and female start plastering the
hollow of the tree with their droppings and mud. While
the female does it from inside, the male helps her from
outside.
Thus the female is walled
inside the hollow. Only a small opening is left, so that
the male can feed her from outside.
She stays in this
self-designed prison till her young are two weeks old,
and then she breaks down the wall by attacking it
steadily with her beak. While the female is inside the
hole, the male spends his nights on the nearby branches.
Even during the daytime, he sits near the hole
ever ready to attend to the needs of his mate. One male
of a South-East Asian species of Hornbill, made an
average of 13 trips each day, for four months, to feed
his family. The male Hornbill regurgitated about 15
pieces of fruit each time.
Meanwhile, his partner
passed droppings and food remains out of the slit, to
keep the nest clean.
The Hornbills large,
strong bill is made of a hard, horny substance. It is
used for a variety of jobs, such as picking fruits or
catching small creatures to eat. Because of their large
horn-like bills these birds are called Hornbills. More
puzzling is the "casque" the bulbous
growth on top of the bill.
The casque is not solid
horn, but a thin layer of skin and bone enclosing a
light, spongy tissue. Only one species, the helmeted
Hornbill of South-East Asia, has a solid casque, which is
made of a golden, ivory-like substance. Various reasons
have been suggested for the presence of the casque. It is
supposed to help the birds recognise the sex and age of
other birds to be used as a weapon in fights or to knock
down fruits from trees.
There are about 49 species
of Hornbill found in Southern Asia, Africa, Indonesia and
the Solomons, Philippines and Malaysia. They are medium
to large, typically black and white birds. Their legs are
short and tails are long.
All Hornbills have habits
that are more or less similar. They commonly live in
wooded country with scattered banyan and peepul trees.
Wild figs fruits form their staple food.
The birds keep in parties
which fly from tree to tree in follow-my-leader fashion
with a characteristic, noisy and undulating style
a few rapid wing strokes are followed by a dipping glide
with the primaries upcurved. All species have a large
variety of loud raucous roars, screams and squeals.
As has already been
mentioned among these birds the larger forest Hornbills
are mainly fruit-eaters and travel widely in search of
food. Most smaller species mainly eat insects and only
some fruit in season. The very large ground Hornbills are
carnivores. They use their beaks like pick-axes to spear
and batter prey such as hares, squirrels, tortoises and
an occasional snake.
The Bombay Natural History
Society (BNHS), a premier institution, has a picture of a
Great Indian Hornbill as its logo. The logo perpetuates
the memory of a bird of that species that once lived on
the premises of the society.
The bird was brought by a
member when it was nestling and it continued to live
there for 26 years till 1920 when it died. It was named
William.
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