White-crowned hornbill

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White-crowned hornbill
Bucerotidae - Berenicornis comatus.jpg
Male
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Bucerotiformes
Family: Bucerotidae
Genus: Berenicornis
Bonaparte, 1850
Species:
B. comatus
Binomial name
Berenicornis comatus
(Raffles, 1822)
Synonyms
  • Aceros comatus

The white-crowned hornbill (Berenicornis comatus), also known as the long-crested hornbill or white-crested hornbill (leading to easy confusion with the African white-crested hornbill), is a species of hornbill.

Contents

Taxonomy

It is monotypic within the genus Berenicornis, although rarely the white-crested hornbill is also included in this genus, and the white-crowned hornbill is sometimes placed in genus Aceros instead. [3]

Description

Berenicornis comatus. Close-up on the heads of male (right) and female (left) White-crowned Hornbill (Aceros comatus) -pair-6a.jpg
Berenicornis comatus. Close-up on the heads of male (right) and female (left)

Berenicornis comatus is a large hornbill, reaching a length of 83–102 cm (33–40 in) and a weight of 1.3–1.5 kg (2.9–3.3 lb). Females are smaller than males. The plumage is black and white. The head, neck, breast and tail are white, while the remaining plumage is black. It has white crown feathers erected in a crest (hence the common name). Between the eye and the bill and on the throat there is bare dark blue skin. The bill is mainly black, with a yellowish base. Like most hornbills, it has a blackish casque on the top of its bill. The female has a black neck and underparts.

Diet

These birds are territorial and feed on various fruits, lizards, arthropods and larvae. [4]

Distribution

This species is found in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo.

Habitat

This bird inhabits rainforests at low and medium altitudes, usually at an elevation below 900 meters. It may also be found on fruit, oil-palm and rubber plantations. It is threatened by habitat destruction.

Behavior

The female lays two white eggs in a tree hole, then seals herself in by blocking the entrance to the nest with droppings, debris and mud. The male, and other adults and young forming a cooperative group, feed the breeding female and the chicks through a narrow hole. The female breaks the "wall" and leaves the nest when the chicks are able to fly. [4]

Threats

The forest habitat that this bird depends on has been heavily declining in recent years. Due to this, the white-crowned hornbill was uplisted from near threatened to endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2018.

Related Research Articles

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Hornbills are birds found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia of the family Bucerotidae. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a horny casque on the upper mandible. Hornbills have a two-lobed kidney. They are the only birds in which the first and second neck vertebrae are fused together; this probably provides a more stable platform for carrying the bill. The family is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and small animals. They are monogamous breeders nesting in natural cavities in trees and sometimes cliffs. A number of mainly insular species of hornbill with small ranges are threatened with extinction, namely in Southeast Asia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malabar pied hornbill</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Von der Decken's hornbill</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhinoceros hornbill</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abyssinian ground hornbill</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wreathed hornbill</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-necked hornbill</span> Species of bird

The rufous-necked hornbill is a species of hornbill in Bhutan, northeastern India, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is locally extinct in Nepal due to hunting and significant loss of habitat. There are less than 10,000 adults left in the wild. With a length of about 117 cm (46 in), it is among the largest Bucerotine hornbills. The underparts, neck and head are pigmented as a rich rufous in the male, but black in the female.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austen's brown hornbill</span> Species of bird

Austen's brown hornbill is a species of hornbill found in forests from northeastern India and south to Vietnam and northern Thailand. It is sometimes included as a subspecies of Tickell's brown hornbill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blyth's hornbill</span> Species of bird

Blyth's hornbill, also known as the Papuan hornbill, is a large hornbill inhabiting the forest canopy in Wallacea and Melanesia. Its local name in Tok Pisin is kokomo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bucerotiformes</span> Order of birds

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knobbed hornbill</span> Species of bird

The knobbed hornbill, also known as Sulawesi wrinkled hornbill, is a colourful hornbill native to Indonesia. The species is sometimes placed in the genus Aceros. The knobbed hornbill is the faunal symbol of South Sulawesi province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narcondam hornbill</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriental pied hornbill</span> Species of bird

The oriental pied hornbill is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the family Bucerotidae. Two other common names for this species are Sunda pied hornbill (convexus) and Malaysian pied hornbill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-tipped quetzal</span> Species of bird

The white-tipped quetzal is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae found in Venezuela, Colombia, and Guyana. Two subspecies have been described. Pharomachrus fulgidus fulgidus is found in the mountains of northern Venezuela and Pharomachrus fulgidus festatus ranges through the Santa Marta mountains of northeast Colombia. Quetzals are iridescent and colourful birds found in forests, woodlands and humid highlands. The white-tipped quetzal has been a limited subject of research. Pharomachrus nests have been studied to analyse the effects of rainfall on breeding, however conclusions are based on single observations. On the IUCN Red list of threatened species, the white-tipped quetzal is listed as a species of least concern.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2018). "Berenicornis comatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22682507A132272549. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22682507A132272549.en . Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. Clements, J. F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition. Cornell University Press. Downloadable from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  4. 1 2 "Arkive.org". Archived from the original on 2014-05-18. Retrieved 2012-10-09.