This fortnightly feature was published on November 22


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 Hornbill’s 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 fig’s 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.