White-crowned Hornbill

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White-crowned Hornbill
Berenicornis comatus. Male
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Bucerotidae
Genus: Berenicornis
Bonaparte, 1850
Species: B. comatus
Binomial name
Berenicornis comatus
(Raffles, 1822)
Synonyms

Aceros comatus

The White-crowned Hornbill (Berenicornis comatus), also known as the White-crested Hornbill or Long-crested Hornbill (leading to easy confusion with the African Tropicranus albocristatus), is a species of hornbill.

Taxonomy

It is monotypic within the genus Berenicornis, but rarely the White-crested Hornbill is also included in this genus, whereas the White-crowned Hornbill sometimes is placed in Aceros instead.[2]

Distribution

This species is found in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo.

Habitat

This bird inhabits rainforests of low and medium altitudes, usually at an elevation below 900 meters. It may also be found into fruit, oil-palm and rubber plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Description

Berenicornis comatus. Close-up on the heads of male (right) and female (left)

Berenicornis comatus is a large hornbill, reaching a length of 83–102 centimetres (33–40 in) and a weight of 1.3–1.5 kilograms (2.9–3.3 lb). Females are smaller than males. The plumage is black and white. The head, neck, breast and tail are white, while the rest of the feathers is black. It has a white crown feathers erected in a crest (hence the common name). Between the eye and the bill and on the throat there is bare dark blue skin. The bill is mainly black, with a yellowish base. Similarly to most of hornbills it has a kind of blackish casque on the top if its bill. Female have black neck and underparts. These birds are territorial and feed on various fruits, lizard, artopods and larvae. [3]

Reproduction

Female lays two white eggs in a tree hole. Then the female seals herself obstructing the entrance to its nest with droppings, debris and mud. The male and other adults and young belonging to a cooperative group feed the breeding female and later the chicks through a narrow hole. Female leaves the nest breaking the "wall" when the chicks are able to fly. [3]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2008). Aceros comatus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  2. ↑ Clements, J. F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition. Cornell University Press. Downloadable from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Arkive.org
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