Helmeted Hornbill - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Carole-Anne
Sukau, Borneo, 2007

Alternative names: Great Helmeted Hornbill; Solid-billed Hornbill

Rhinoplax vigil

Buceros vigil

Identification

110–120 cm (43¼-47¼ in)

• Dark brown overall plumage
• White belly and legs
• White tail with long central tail feathers
• Bare, wrinkled throat patch, blue in females and red in males
• Yellow casque goes from the base of the bill halfway to the tip
• Yellow bill

Distribution

Photo by Jason Bugay Reyes
Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Borneo, August 2012

Southern Myanmar, southern Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Borneo (Indonesia), and Brunei¹.
Extinct in Singapore. Still not uncommon in its range but has suffered from forest loss.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].
Some authorities place this species in the genus Buceros.

Habitat

Lowland forest.

Status

Classified as Near Threatened in the 2008 IUCN Red List¹.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists mainly of fruit, especially figs, but they also hunt for small animals each day, including squirrels, snakes and birds.

Breeding

Breeding little known. Nests in a natural hole in a tall tree, the entrance is sealed with mud and food remains. Usually one chick raised.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

1. BirdLife International. 2008. Species factsheet: Rhinoplax vigil. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 23/7/2008.
2. Dickinson EC (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. ISBN 9780691117010
3. Gill F & Wright M. 2008. Birds of the World: Recommended English Names. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, USA. 2006. ISBN 9780691128276 Update (2008) downloaded from [1].
4. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 2001. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 6: Mousebirds to Hornbills. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334306
5. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Apr 2018)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Helmeted Hornbill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Helmeted_Hornbill

External Links

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