Writhed-billed Hornbill

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iWrithed-billed Hornbill

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Aceros
Species:	A. waldeni

Binomial name

Aceros waldeni
Sharpe, 1877

The Writhed-billed Hornbill, or Visayan Wrinkled Hornbill (Aceros waldeni) is a hornbill bird living in the rainforests of Negros and Panay of the Philippines.

1 Status
2 Habitat and behaviour
3 Reproduction
4 References
5 External link

[edit] Status

This is a critically endangered species. Writhed-billed hornbills reproduce very slowly and thus are unable to survive high hunting pressures coupled with heavy logging of the rainforests. It is presumed extinct on Guimaras and now survives only on Negros and Panay. The current population is estimated at less than 160.

[edit] Habitat and behaviour

Rainforests with abundant fruit-bearing trees are the natural habitat of these birds. The writhed-billed hornbills live in small groups and are noisy.

[edit] Reproduction

Writhed-billed hornbills use natural or carved-out hollows in tree trunks for its nest. They reproduce very slowly. In conservation camps and parks, man made nests made of wooden boxes are being attached to tree trunks.

The binomial commemorates the Scottish ornithologist Viscount Walden.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2006). Aceros waldeni. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered