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Home is in the trees of Southern Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. They are one of thirteen hornbill species that live in Indonesia and one of fifty-seven in the world.
First let’s peck out the obvious, their beaks. A prominent feature, the large, curved structure above their beak is called a helmet or casque. This casque makes up for 11% of their body weight and is made out of Keratin, which is the same substance as our fingernails and hair. Unfortunately, it is also the main reason this species is critically endangered. (Click here to learn more)
Moving down you might notice their necks… a rather wrinkly hairless patch of skin that is hard to miss. A great sign to know if you are looking at a male or female is by looking at their necks. Males have a reddish brown colored neck (like the bird in the picture above) and females necks are more of a turquoise color. They use this flexible, stretchy neck to bring food back to their nests for their young, or for a late night snack.
Now let’s talk about them feathers! They are mostly black in color, but their belly, leg and tail feathers are a crisp white (with a black band around the tail). Their tail feathers can reach up to an astounding 3.3 feet (one meter) long! Can you imagine seeing that fly across the sky?! They are not the largest of the hornbills but the males will weigh around 6.8 lbs and the females 5.9 lbs. But overall they are one big bird!
To me, one of the most interesting facts about Helmeted Hornbills is how they protect their young. When it’s time for the female to lay her eggs, she will find a hole in a tree, crawl inside, and the male will cover said hole with mud. Don’t worry! He leaves a crack large enough to pass food through, which he will do multiple times a day. The female will be in the dark nest for up to five months! During this time she will molt (shed) her flight feathers and regrow them before emerging from the nest. Talk about dedication to one’s family.
Their diet consists mostly of fruit but they will also eat insects and small animals. One of their favorite snacks is figs. So much so that they have been spotted fighting over a ripe one on many occasions. Using their casques to smash into each other, similar to jousting. Which leads into one of the most important roles they play in the forests, seed dispersers.
Helmeted Hornbills are a HUGE helper when it comes to spreading plant life across Indonesia. They often drop food and seeds as they fly through the forests, even their feces play a role in growing new plants! Pretty cool yeah?! Waste not, want not.
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