Hornbills

Writhedhornbill

Writhedhornbill

Well-Known Member
Does anyone have any questions on hornbills? I have just realised how much I actually know about them. I know lots on the taricitcs at Chester, having studied them for 2 hours, and spendind another 10 hours writing up my findings!!
 
Did you know that the genus Tockus is about to be split? There are two distinctive groups within the genus, the tree-dwelling Tockus and the ground-dwelling Tockus. I don't know which species are in which group.
 
I didn't know that. Thanks. I have a book on the birds of africa. It has lots of the tockus genus mentioned. My favourite african hornbill is only kept at San Diego WAP. It is the yellow casqued hornbill. So unusual.
 
I don't really have a favourite hornbill.

The two Tockus groups are the arboreal whistlers and the terrestrial cluckers. The former display with the head held up and the latter with the head held down. The whistlers hop when on the ground, and the cluckers walk. The whistlers are good fliers, the cluckers more of a gliding bird. The whistlers line their nests with bark and roost at the ends of long thin branches, the cluckers line their nests with foliage and roost against tree trunks. There are genetic differences between the two groups.
 
The aboreal species are those like the crowned and Bermich's ( hope I spelt it right), and the ground dwellin species, are those like Von der decken's and Eatern yellow billed, Am I right? I don't know a lot about Tockus to be honest, as I think that they're a bit ugly.

I forgot to post up there, but my favourite hornbill is the writhed, and then the Sulawesi wrinkled, White crowned, rufous and all 5 (6 if you count the samar tarictic as a species, not a subspecies of the mindanao) penelopides.
 
They look magnificent when they fly around their aviary in the zoo, I can imagine how lovely they'd be above the canopy of the rainforest, with the sun gleaming off their yellow bill.

The ground hornbills are classed, by some people, in a different family to the other hornbills.
 
Writhedhornbill said:
They look magnificent when they fly around their aviary in the zoo, I can imagine how lovely they'd be above the canopy of the rainforest, with the sun gleaming off their yellow bill.
Click to expand...

What you notice chiefly is the sound of their wings- whoompf, whoompf and the slow stately flight. They usually fly high above the canopy -like macaws.
 
I liken them to jet engines revving up. Their wing-beats are so loud when they're close!
 
As an old africa hand I can add that ground hornbills are wonderful in flight - they have white primaries which make them very conspicuous over the savannas. The call of the grey hornbill is a very characteristic sound of the Guinea savanna in West Africa, very musical and remarkably similar to a curlew.

Alan
 
Can someone answer this please- I've only seen Ground Hornbills in captivity.
The forward part of the casque in this species always seems to be broken off short and hollow-looking- is this damage or is it natural? I saw the one at Whipsnade recently and it was just the same...

Incidentally that one's pouch was blue but with some scarlet around the edges- so which subspecies does it fall into- zoo hybrid?
 
The pair at London are I think abysinian ground hornbills. The casque should look like that. The male at London zoo has a casque that looks almost hollowed out inside
 
I have a question. What hornbill species do Paulton's Park keep? I heard they had hand-raised a wrinkled hornbill some time ago. What other breeding successes have they had with hornbills?

Also, was Cotswold the last UK site to breed Great Indian Hornbills?

Are there any Writhed/ Rhinoceros/ Great Indian/ Casqued in private collections in the UK?
 
I think that Chester was the last zoo to breed the great indian hornbill. Hornbills in general are notoriosly difficult to breed . Some species, like the rhinoceros and south Sulawesi have only been bred once, while others, like the Von der decken's hornbill are bred regularly.

I know nothing about Paulton's park sorry.

I doubt that many hornbills are held in private collections. If any are kept, I doubt that they'd be any of the species that you mentioned, as they are all quite unusual in captivity. Only a handful of zoos have been sucessful with the writhed, so I doubt that any private collections would house them. The rhinoceros hornbills are only kept at Paignton and Chester in the U.K, and the Great Indians are slightly more common.

If any hornbills are kept in private collections, then they'd probably be a species like the Yello billed hornbill, or the ground hornbill, the more common species in captivity.

Have yellow or Black casqued hornbills ever been kept in the U.K? They are both so unusual.
 
grantsmb said:
Can someone answer this please- I've only seen Ground Hornbills in captivity.
The forward part of the casque in this species always seems to be broken off short and hollow-looking- is this damage or is it natural? I saw the one at Whipsnade recently and it was just the same...

Incidentally that one's pouch was blue but with some scarlet around the edges- so which subspecies does it fall into- zoo hybrid?
Click to expand...

According to my old African Handbook of Birds, the northern (Abyssinian) species has a larger open-fronted casque. But the blue pouch with a red margin is characteristic of the female of the southern species.

Alan
 
Writhedhornbill said:
Have yellow or Black casqued hornbills ever been kept in the U.K? They are both so unusual.
Click to expand...

Probably by London Zoo in the 19th century. The follwing hornbills have been bred in the UK.

Red-billed
Eastern Yellow-billed
Jackson's
Von der Decken's
Crowned
North African Grey
South African Grey
Malayasian Pied
Black
Great Indian
Javan Rhinoceros
Tarictic hybrids
Wrinkled
Blyth's
Trumpeter
Black and White Casqued
Abyssinian Ground
Southern Ground
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top