"Imagine being on the tropical island of Borneo and drifting
quietly down a steam in a dug-out canoe. The giant trees of the
rainforest rise on each bank like cathedral spires, and the creepers
which festoon them form cloisters that conceal the dark damp
interior. Raindrops pattering on the foliage and distant rumble of a
retreating thunderstorm form a backdrop of sound, though which
penetrates a single mournful hoot. More hoots follow at intervals,
accelerating in tempo until they break suddenly into peals of
maniacal laughter. Two huge birds then burst across the dome of the
sky, their naked red heads extended and metre-long tail feathers
trailing behind. Cackling loudly, they ram into one another like
mountain sheep. . . . Male Helmeted Hornbills are busy in defence
of their territorial boundaries." (Alan Kemp -
Hornbills)
You can spot the hornbill everywhere in Malaysia, if you try, good places to spot hornbills elsewhere in Malaysia are Taman Negara,
Fraser's Hill, Langkawi, Gunung Mulu National Park, Kinabatangan, Sabah's Danum Valley and Mount Kinabalu National Park.
Many species of hornbill (8 - 9) are found in Malaysia.
Some of them endangered or only present in small, isolated populations.
The iban hunted hornbills for the tail feathers, which they use to decorate ceremonial headdresses. A single group of dancers may use as
many as 400 feathers on their headdresses, for which they would have to kill about 40 birds. But that's over now.
The hornbills nestle in a hole high up in an old tree. It's the largest birds in the forest.
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During mating season, male hornbills reportedly use their casqued bills
for spectacular head-on collisions in mid-air.
A month or more before mating, the male hornbill begins courting the
female by bringing her food. When ready to lay her eggs, the female will
enter a nest hole high in the hollow tree. The pair will then spend two
or three days plastering up the hole with the female's clay-like
droppings — she on the inside, he on the outside — using the sides of
their bills as trowels.
The female will remain enclosed for three months as the male delivers
food to her and then to the chicks through a small finger hole. She will
go through a complete change of her flight feathers while hidden in the
nest. Once the nestlings are born, she will break out of the nest and
join her mate in provisioning food for their young
Hornbills appear to pair for life. The are banding together to defend a
territory against other members of their species. This helps to ensure
adequate food supply as well as "exclusive rights" to nesting sites.
Hornbills are critical to the dispersal of figs because they eat the
entire fruit, including the seed, and then fly long distances,
dispersing the seeds widely. Throughout the world figs grow most
abundantly in Sarawak, and about 80 varieties of the figs can be
observed there. The best way to see a hornbill is to locate a large wild
fig plant and to hide nearby, for figs seem to be the favourite food of
the hornbill.
