Indian Grey Hornbill

Description:

The upperparts are greyish brown and there is a slight trace of a pale supercilium. The ear coverts are darker. The flight feathers of the wing are dark brown and whitish tipped. The tail has a white tip and a dark subterminal band. They have a red iris and the eyelids have eyelashes. The casque is short and pointed. The male has a larger casque on a dark bill while the culmen and lower mandible are yellowish. The bare skin around the eye is dark in the male while it is sometimes pale reddish in females. The female has a more yellowish bill with black on the basal half and on the casque.

Habitat:

Seen at a protected forest/national park.

Notes:

Indian Grey Hornbills usually nest in tree hollows on tall trees. An existing hollow may be excavated further to suit. The female enters the nest hollow and seals the nest hole and leaves only a small vertical slit that the male uses to feed her. The nest entrance is sealed by the female using its excreta and mud-pellets supplied by the male. While inside the nest, the female moults her flight feathers and incubates the eggs. The regrowth of the feathers in the female coincides with the maturity of the chicks at which point the nest is broken open