Knobbed hornbill

Knobbed hornbill
A pair (female on left) in the forest canopy Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Bucerotiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Rhyticeros
Species:	R. cassidix
Binomial name
Rhyticeros cassidix (Temminck, 1823)
Synonyms
Aceros cassidix Temminck, 1823

The knobbed hornbill (Rhyticeros cassidix), also known as Sulawesi wrinkled hornbill, is a colourful

This is a large black hornbill with a yellow bill, white tail feathers, pale blue skin around eye, blackish feet and bare dark blue throat. The male has rufous/buff face and neck, orange-red eyes, and a high red casque on the top of his bill. The female has a black face and neck, a yellow casque, and brownish eyes.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

An

Ecology

As with other hornbills, the knobbed hornbill is believed to be monogamous. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, but it will also take insects and small vertebrates. Breeding season spans 27–30 weeks and appears to be triggered by a dramatic reduction in rainfall. The female seals itself inside a tree hole for egg-laying using its own feces. During this time, the male will provide foods for the female and the young through a slit in the seal.^[1][3]

Knobbed hornbills are important seed dispersers in their habitat and influence the initial fate of seeds of several tropical forest tree species.^[4]

Conservation

The species is currently classified as

• 
  Male at Walsrode Bird Park
• 
  Early drawing by the Dutch colonial Natuurkundige Commissie voor Nederlands-Indië, 1820s.
• 
• 
  Pair at Walsrode Bird Park, Germany
• 
  Skeleton

References