Rhinoceros Hornbill

Range:
Malaya, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo

Habitat:
Dense lowland evergreen forest, hill dipterocarp forest and sections of logged forest

Size:
Height: 2.6-3 ft; Weight: 4.5-6.5 lbs

Young:
2-3 white with brown eggs

Incubation:
39 days

Diet (wild):
Omnivore: insects, small vertebrates, fruits and nuts

Diet (zoo):
All year: produce, low iron pellets, whole grapes, and crickets
During Breeding Season: add banana slices, pinkies, cooked yams, and dog chow

Lifespan (wild):
Up to 30 years

Lifespan (captivity):
Can live up to 33 years

Status:
Species at Risk (IUCN Lower risk/near threatened)

Threats:
Loss of habitat, poaching for its feathers, and hinting for food

Anatomy/Physiology:
It is a black bird with a white belly. The tail is white with a broad black band near the tip. They have a bony casque, surrounding their beak which is very light, being composed of a thin outer covering of horn that is filled with a sponge like cellular tissue. The beak and casque are naturally white but during the lifetime of the bird, they are colored orange and red, because they constantly rub their beaks against a gland beneath their tall, which secretes an orange-red fluid. Their long beak enables them to reach fruit on the outer branches of forest trees. Their wings are rounded making it difficult to fly and noisy for a bird. They have long, thick, curly eyelashes and are one of few birds with eyelashes. The only sexual dimorphism is that the males have red eyes and the females have white eyes.

Social/Family units:
They usually live in pairs, but they will congregate in groups in trees to eat.

Habits:
The female will sit in a hollow tree during nesting and the male will close up the hole in the tree to protect the female, and young from predators. This hole only leaves a tiny slit that a beak can fit through do the male can drop food into the hole. The fledgling will squeeze through the hole at about 6 weeks of age.
They are usually heard, but not seen. They stick to the tree tops but the loud noise made when they flap their wings can be heard.

Communication:
They have a honking squawk that sounds goose-like. The casque amplifies their voice. The bill probably also serves in courtship and other social contacts.

Defensive/Aggressive behavior:
Their long bill is used for defense against enemies.

Prey items:
Small vertebrates, insects, fruit, and nuts

Predators:
Monkeys and snakes

Locomotion:
They have rounded wing feathers which makes it is hard and noisy to fly.

Activity:
Diurnal

Interesting story/facts:
The Malaysian state of Sarawak uses the Rhinoceros hornbill as an emblem and they are important in the principal Iban ritual, the gawi kenyalang, involving elaborate carving of effigies. Tail feathers have been and are still used in headdresses and decorative capes by the Bornean Dyaks and in the Kalimantan region.
It was revered by ancient people as a "god of war."