About Southern-Pied Hornbill ( Click - Readmore )
 Southern-Pied Hornbill
Scientific name: Anthracocercos convexus
Family: Bucerotidae
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Conservation: Near Threatened (Population deceasing)
Description
The southern pied hornbill is a medium size hornbill with a head-to-tail length of 55–60cm and a wingspan of 23–36cm. It can weigh between 600gm and 1,050gm. The plumage of the head and upper body is black with a slight green sheen. The tail is black with white tips on all the feathers except the central feathers (rectories). The plumage of their lower body is white. Casques of mature southern-pied hornbill are laterally flattened “cylinders”, which may form a protruding horn. Males and females are similar in coloration. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger body size, yellow bill, which has a black base, and bright red eyes. Females have a slightly smaller body size, a yellow bill and casque with a partly black, browned patched mandible, and grayish-brown eyes.
Distribution and habitat
The southern-pied hornbill is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Eastern and Northern India, Indonesia, Laos, North peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam and the Sunda shelf islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Within these regions, southern-pied hornbill occupies various habitat types, which include dry and semi-evergreen forests, dry and moist deciduous forests, subtropical broadleaf forests, secondary forests, plantations and woodlands.
Diet
Southern-pied Hornbills are predominantly frugivores. The southern pied hornbill diet consists of wild fruits such as figs , berries, rambutans, palm fruit, papaya and fruits of liana plants. It will also take large insects (grasshoppers), small birds (finches) small reptiles (lizards and snakes), amphibians such as frogs, and fish.
Reproduction
Southern-pied hornbills typically commence breeding in February. This coincides with the onset of rain depending on geographic location, and peak abundance of fruit. |
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