Animals

The March of the Red Crab
A Moth Find a New Home
Suicidal Birds
A leopard and A cheetah
The Spectacular Hornbill
The Antelope with an extraordinary nose
Masquerading Males
Tiny But Powerful
Electric Fishes
Paternal Care
Hairless Cat
Passionate Parrot
Calling Out To Mother
Hot Wheels
Discs On Their Wings
Two-humped Camels
Frozen Frog
Silken Chambers
Earth Pig
Swordsman of the Sea
The Ostrich Trick
Electrifying Meal
Bizarre Turtle
Grey Whales
The Flying Lemur
The Winged Fishing Creature
Llamas
A Different Sort of a Parrot
The Tailless Cat
The Ancestor Of The Rhino
Acquisitive Wood Rats
The Butterflyfish
The Amazing Jumper
The Largest Deer
The Devil’s Coach-Horse
The Porcupine With A Prehensile Tail
The Irritating Fencing
The Acrobatic Otter
The Busy Termite Colony
Superb Mimics
The Canary
Snow Monkey
Jumping Spiders
Glass Lizard
Beetle Rhino
The World’s Smallest Bear
Hygienic Ants
Flat as a Pancake
The Carpet Shark
The Centipede Walk

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The Spectacular Hornbill

The most spectacular of the hornbills, this species is distinguished by its large size, resounding call, and the loud swooshing of its wing beats. It has a massive bill with a prominent casque and long rounded wings. The bill, casque, white head, and neck are often stained yellow with oil from the green gland. Mostly confined to the forest canopy, the hornbill moves easily through it with a series of sideway hops. It follows regular routine, visiting certain trees at the same time each day. It feeds mainly on fruits, especially figs, but also preys on reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, and birds. Fruits and small preys are grasped with the tip of the bill and moved down the gullet by throwing the head up and back.

Large prey is crushed in the bill and battered against a branch before being swallowed. Like other hornbills, this species builds its nest in the natural hollow of a tree trunk, which it seals with mud, leaving only a narrow opening through which the male passes food to the nesting female. The female breaks out the nest after almost 3 months, but the entrance is resealed by the chick, which is fed for a further month in the nest.
Tuhin V Satarkar,
6th A
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Sulochana Natu Vidya Mandir, Pune-16.

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Last updated on :12/15/2006

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