Females stay inside the nest to incubate one or two eggs for 38-40 days. The pair finds a hollowed area in a tree and the female seals herself in using mud, bits of bark, fruit pulp and feces. This species has a unique nesting method. Great hornbills produce very loud vocalizations that sound like cackling and roaring, they are especially noisy when roosting. Hornbills are territorial and will actively defend their range and nest.īreeding season is from February to May during this time, males compete for female attention by bumping casques and pairs perform call-and-answer duets. Great hornbills are monogamous and usually found in pairs, although large groups of birds will feed together. At the zoo, they are fed fruit and insects. The majority of this species’ diet consists of fruit but they will also occasionally eat insects, small reptiles, amphibians, other birds and small mammals. They prefer tall trees in moist evergreen forests. Great hornbills are found in southeast Asia, including parts of India, China, Myanmar, Vietnam and south to the Malay Peninsula.

Lifespan is 35 -40 years in the wild, and up to 50 years under human care. Since each hornbill species give different flight noises, some biologists believe that hornbills use the sound of their flight to communicate with one another, signaling their arrival or departure to other birds. Most hornbills are strong in flight, and the sound of air passing between the feathers in their wings can be very loud. The male’s casque is larger than the female’s. In the majority of hornbill species, the casque is hollow with a honeycomb structure inside for support. They may take up to six years to completely form, and are made from the same material which covers the outside of the jaw. These hornbills are known for their large curved bill that is topped with a distinct enlargement called a casque. When birds groom themselves they spread the oil over their feathers and head, giving each bird a unique coloration. Great hornbills have a gland near their tail that secrets a yellowish-orange oil. Males have red eyes surrounded by black skin, while females have white eyes surrounded by red skin. The wings have white bands while the white tail is barred with black bands. Both male and female birds are primarily black with white necks. The great hornbill is among the world’s largest hornbill species, weighing in at up to six pounds.

Toucans are found only in central and South America, while hornbills are found exclusively in Africa and southeast Asia.

Even though hornbills and toucans may look similar, they are not closely related.The casque on top of a hornbill’s bill is a structure unique to this group of birds, and shows a huge diversity of forms among the members of the family.Great hornbills are also known as Indian hornbills.Hornbills are fond of figs in fact, up to 200 hornbills may gather in the same tree to feed on fruit.Our male hornbill was hatched at a zoo in Southern California.

Shoebill making noise