Oriental Pied Hornbill

Koh Samet, Thailand

The oriental pied hornbill is a canopy dweller prefering subtropical and tropical moist lowland forest and is a common resident throughout India and South East Asia.

Feeding

The oriental pied hornbill's diet includes insects, reptiles, insects, fruit and occasionally, small mammals, birds and their eggs.

Breeding

They are monogamous and nest in cavities in trees often those excavated by other birds or occurring naturally. Females select the site and seal the entrance from the inside with a mixture of saliva, fruit, dropping, mud and bark leaving a small hole through which the male can feed them during the long incarceration of the incubation period. Chicks and their mother remain dependent upon the male for food for several months until the young "fledge" (develop wing feathers large enough to fly).