Oriental Pied Hornbill

Description:

Small (75 cm), black and white hornbill with a large yellow-white casque. Plumage black except for a white patch under the eye, white lower belly, thighs, and undertail coverts, white tips to flight feathers and white outer tail feathers. Calls are incessant, strident cackle ayak-yak-yak-yak-yak. The nesting of the hornbills are to seal the incubating females into tree hole nests with mud, leaving only a small aperture through which food can be passed by the male. When the young are hatched the female breaks out but reseals the nest entrance again until the young are ready to leave.

Habitat:

Range & distribution: North India, South China, SE Asia, Malay Peninsula, Greater Sundas and Borneo. A conspicuous bird of lowland primary and secondary forests. Prefers more open habitat such as forest edge, clearings and secondary forest than other hornbills. Found in pairs or noisy parties, flapping or gliding from tree to tree. Eats insects more than fruit.