In Asia, rhinoceros hornbills are considered a symbol of great loyalty and as a bringer of luck. As soon as the young are fledged, the parents break open the cavity, and they all leave the protective nest. If anything happens to him during this time, the entire family will starve. The male has the task of bringing food for all the occupants of the tree nest. Hornbills are easily recognized by the horn, called a. They range in size from the dwarf hornbill (3 ounces, 12 inches tall) to the southern ground-hornbill (13.6 pounds, 39 inches tall). Hornbills come in various sizes and shapes to match the conditions in their natural habitats. While she is sitting on her eggs, she is in moult and becomes flightless. The 57 species of hornbill live only in Africa and Asia. The female stays walled up in her “prison” for three months. This wall becomes so hard that after the incubation period the birds have difficulty breaking it open again. After mating, the female lays one or two eggs in a hollow tree trunk and closes the entrance from within using a mix of food, dung, and wood chips, leaving only a small slit open. Like all hornbills, rhinoceros hornbills are famous for their nesting habits. The tip of the beak is used like a finger to pluck fruit from the trees the serrated edges are use to grasp and tear apart animal prey. Its most striking feature is its large, curved beak with a distinctive, bulging casque of light bone tissue. It is native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia, far from human influence, where it feeds on fruit and hunts small lizards.

The rhinoceros hornbill can reach 90 centimeters in length and weigh nearly three kilograms, making it one of the largest representatives of the hornbill family. Even the hornbill’s prey, which is a small flying dragon, is an original. Circa 1833.Īttention to detail was a high priority in the restoration of this historic diorama in 2010.

Rhinoceros hornbill closeup