Rufous Hornbill
Buceros hydrocorax
A large hornbill of lowland and foothill forest. Body dark, with rufous thighs, chest, and neck, a whitish tail, a red casque, a long red bill, and a black face bordered behind with yellow. Females have a smaller casque, a paler eye, and no eye-ring. Southern birds have a yellow-tipped bill. Similar to the Writhed Hornbill, but Rufous lacks the black tip to the tail and has a rufous rather than black or pale head. Voice includes loud, downslurred nasal honking notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Buceros hydrocorax
- Authority
- Linnaeus, 1766
- Order
- Bucerotiformes
- Family
- Bucerotidae
- Genus
- Buceros
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
It is sometimes called "the clock of the mountains" because of its periodic noontime call. It has been recorded to have been preyed upon by the Philippine eagle.<p>As with other hornbills, females seal themselves within the nest cavity, where they lay the clutch, and remain with the growing young for most or all of the nesting period. In some species, the male helps with the sealing process from outside the nest cavity. The nestlings and the female are fed by the male through a narrow vertical slit in the sealed nest opening, at times joined by non-breeding helper males. Nesting time will last in average of 4–6 months. In this duration the male will provide food to his confine female and nestling. They maintain the year- pair bonds and will paired together until many years’ time and engage a courtship feeding.<p>Rufous Hornbills play a crucial role in maintaining the balance of their ecosystem. They are considered a keystone species due to their omnivorous feeding habits, which allow them to disperse seeds along the forest floor from the fruits they consume and control pest populations of insects they predate on.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
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