Asian Black Hornbill

Asian Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus)

Click onto the picture to hear its sound! Family: BUCEROTIDAE
Hornbills are large, black or brown, and white, mainly arboreal birds, with long, heavy bills. Many species have large protuberant casques on top of the bill which may be gaudily coloured. Hornbills are found throughout Africa and tropical Asia, and throughout Indonesia to New Guinea. They eat fruit and insects and have harsh, penetrating calls.

The nesting habits of the family are interesting. The incubating females are usually sealed into tree hole nests with mud, leaving only a small aperture through which food can be passed by the male. When the young are hatched the female breaks out but reseals the nest entrance again until the young are ready to leave. Ten species of hornbill occur in Sumatra, eight in Borneo, but only three are found in Java.

Description: Also known as Malaysian Black or Black Hornbill. Medium-sized (75 cm) black hornbill with white-tipped outer tail feathers and proportionally large casque. Male sometimes has white stripe over eye to nape.
Iris-reddish brown; bill and casque-white in male, blackish in female; feet-black.

Voice: Harsh creaking cries and repetitive piping brays, similar to Oriental Pied Hornbill.

Range: Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Lingga, Bangka, Belitung, and Borneo.

Distribution and status: A rather uncommon hornbill of lowland primary and logged forests, and swamp forests, usually below 500m.

Habits: Forages in upper and middle canopy of closed forests.