Do You Know The Hornbill Birds?
Hornets are one of the most unknown groups of birds. While toucans live in South America, hornbills are Asian and African.
While the southern terrestrial hornbill exceeds six kilos, the black stump barely reaches 100 grams, so it is a group of birds with a lot of diversity. Male hornbills are always larger than females.
How are the hornbills?
The resemblance to toucans is in its beak, which is almost always provided with some protuberances. Despite its long curved beak, it is a spongy material and therefore light.
Hornbills generally live in the dense forests of the Old World; they are birds that live in pairs and have a very sociable personality. Although they are not very agile on the ground, they move quickly through the branches of trees.
Hornbills are not birds that tend to fly long, as they are very noisy. Some species of hornbill are good imitators and can be heard imitating other birds, similar to what parrots and crows do.
Hornbills are omnivorous animals and, although they all consume fruit, it is not uncommon to see them eating insects or even carrion in some species.
The curious nest of these birds
Hornets have one of the most complex nests in the animal kingdom: like other birds, they nest in holes in trees, but the male literally envelops the female under a wall of mud, dirt and droppings.
The male leaves a small hole to feed the female, who will spend all her incubation time there and, in addition, helps in building the nest. The female can be locked in this curious nest for up to four months ; after this period, she breaks the nest with pecks.
Curiosities about hornbills
- Hornbills have kidneys with two lobes.
- They are the only birds that have the first two neck vertebrae fused together.
- Although the beak is made of spongy tissue, it is still huge.
The exponent of this is the hornbill, whose beak weighs enormously. This bird feeds mainly on figs and is unfortunately hunted for its beak, which contains ivory, a material used to make ornamental elements. The price of their ivory can be up to three times more expensive, as there are more and more tusked elephants in certain areas of Africa.
Interestingly, these birds have binocular vision with which they can see their own beak, which, while it may seem a nuisance, allows them to be very accurate.
Every species of hornbill is very intelligent: it understands other species and benefits from their warnings. For example, it reacts to warnings from the dwarf mongoose and follows the gibbons for insects.
Although African hornbills are not endangered, in Asia these animals have lost a lot of habitat, so some are protected by conservationists. Some of them are hunted for ivory or to make oriental remedies, while elsewhere they are respected animals. Zazu, the Lion King’s royal secretary character, is one of those curious birds.
