INDIAN HORNBILL

 INDIAN HORNBILL

 The Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) also known as Great Indian Hornbill is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. Great Hornbills are found in the forests of Nepal, India,,the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra,Indonesia. Their impressive size and colour have made them important in many tribal cultures and rituals. The Great Hornbill is long-lived, living for nearly 50 years in captivity. They are predominantly frugivorous although they are opportunists and will prey on small mammals, reptiles and birds.

The Great Hornbill is a large bird, 95–120 cm (38–47 in) long, with a 152 cm (60 in) wingspan and a weight of 2.15–4 kg (4.7-8.8 lbs). It is the heaviest, but not the longest, Asian hornbill. The most prominent feature of the hornbill is the bright yellow and black casque on top of its massive bill. The casque appears U-shaped when viewed from the front and the top is concave with two ridges along the sides that form points in the front, a reference to which is made in the Latin species epithet bicornis. The casque is hollow and serves no known purpose although they are believed to be the result of  sexual selection Male hornbills have been known to indulge in aerial casque butting, with birds striking each other in flight. Females are smaller than males and have bluish-white instead of red eyes although the orbital skin is pinkish. Like other hornbills, they have prominent "eyelashes". The back of the casque is reddish in females while the underside of the front and back of the casque is black in males. The male spreads the preen gland secretion which is yellow onto the primaries and bill to give them the bright yellow colour. The commissure of the beak is black and has a serrated and worn edge with age. The wing beats are heavy and the sound produced by birds in flight can be heard from a distance. The sound produced has been likened to the puffing of a steam locomotive starting up. The flight involves stiff flaps followed by glides with the fingers splayed and upcurled. They are sometimes known to fly at great height over forests.  Great Hornbills are usually seen in small parties with larger groups sometimes aggregating at fruit trees. A congregation of 150 to 200 birds has been recorded in southeastern Bhutan. In the wild, the Great Hornbill's diet consists mainly of fruit.

Vazhachal is a rainforest-clad region in Trissur district, Kerala, India, located near the Anamalai hills. It forms a contiguous stretch of forest extending almost 2400 sq. km. through Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary to the north and thereafter through Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and Eravikulam National Park. It is among the last wild habitats in Kerala where all manner of wildlife can still be observed despite not coming under the ambit of Protected Areas. It has scenic terrains and dense rainforests teeming with elephants despite the habitat being largely degraded and full of settlements and plantations. Most notable features of Vazhachal forest reserve are Athirappally, Vazhachal waterfalls, chains of dams and its reservoirs and  elephant herds –which even try to reign the road, as if that have belonged to them and mostly the abundance of hornbills. Many tribal communities are scattered within the forest area, which live in great harmony with nature. They possess rich culture and heritage and have an inseparable nexus with nature and its bounty. All of them are subsistence farmers and hunter-gatherers. They have stupendous knowledge of every nook and corner of the forest and its flora and fauna, but their societal life has been deeply marooned by superstitious beliefs..Hornbills used to build nest in natural holes on huge trees. Female lays egg & incubates, while male seals the holes with feces & feed the female and young ones. Tribes used to catch incubating birds, eggs and young ones for food. Their cask was considered as precious and it symbolized dignity. A decade before, number of great pied hornbills was reduced drastically. Authorities including forest officials chalked out plan to conserve this hornbills and the centre of conservation efforts was the tribes. Now in Vazhachal the tribes are the conservators. They are the sentinels of hornbills’ nests, eggs, young ones.  They consider these birds as their siblings. Authorities made them aware about significance of conserving these hornbills and now they carry out the conservation efforts as a part of their life. The hornbills which give a heot and hide in the woods of Vazhachal range is the outcome of the generous efforts of these innocent tribes.

Trial monitoring programmes were carried out in the new areas, said K.H. Amita Bachan of the Western Ghats Hornbill Foundation.The foundation has trained the tribesmen in monitoring the species. The programme will be implemented in association with the Kerala Forest Department. Usually, the monitoring period starts in January and extends up to May. However, this year, the programme will begin in December considering the changes in climatic conditions, said V. Madhusoodanan, Range Officer, Vazhachal.Twenty tribesmen are involved in the project covering the Vazhachal division, including Charppa and Sholayar forest, he said. During the observation programme, the team members will look for leftover food, faecal matter and other visible signs of presence of the birds in and around the trees. The sites will be observed at least once in a week and monitoring will last till the hatching of the eggs. The knowledge of the tribesmen regarding the nesting trees of the birds comes in handy for the programme, he said.The Vazhachal forest division is considered an important hornbill habitat and the presence of four species—Great Hornbill, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Indian Grey Hornbill and Malabar Grey Hornbill—were recorded from here.The Kadar tribesmen were engaged for the programme as part of participatory conservation programme. During the current survey, the tribesmen will also look for the presence of some important wildlife species like tiger and Lion-tailed macaque, said Dr. Bachan.The tribesmen are encouraged to perambulate the known forest dwelling routes and watch for the known nesting trees. They add scientific inputs to the survey based on the knowledge acquired from the training programmes.

                                                                    Prof. John Kurakar