FSD 2010 - Hornbills

5th International Symposium-Workshop on Frugivores and Seed Dispersal (1985-2010)

Hornbills

Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are found in tropical and sub-tropical Africa and Asia. The most distinctive feature of these birds is the heavy bill, supported by powerful neck muscles as well as by the fused vertebrae. Hornbills are omnivorous birds, eating fruit, insects and small animals. Just as toucans in the neotropics, the large beak allows them to catch fruit in the canopy. The ecology and the role of hornbill has been studied in different rainforests, in Central Africa, India and South-East Asia. In Thailand, for instance, hornbills (700-3000 g in weigh) disperse seeds as big as 13 x 8.3 mm ( L x W) in average. (after Kitamura et al. 2002, Forget et al. 2007). In Central Africa, Ceratogymna spp. (500-1300 g in weigh) disperse seeds ranging 17-19 x 10-12 mm. In India, seeds dispersed by hornbills are larger (26 x 15.3 mm) (Datta, A. pers. comm.) (after Whitney et al. 1998, Forget et al. 2007). Therefore, hornbills are key frugivores and seed dispersers in rainforests. (Drawing of Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) by Erin Kuprewicz).

References (selected)

Africa

Holbrook, K.M., T.B. Smith, and B.D. Hardesty. 2002. Implications of long-distance movements by frugivorous hornbills in Cameroon. Ecography 25: 745-749.

------, and T. B. Smith. 2000. Seed dispersal and movement patterns in two species of Ceratogymna hornbills in a West African tropical lowland forest. Oecologia 125:249-257.

Whitney K.D., M.K. Fogiel, A.M. Lamperti, K.M. Holbrook, D.J. Stauffer, B.D. Hardesty, V.T. Parker and T.B. Smith. 1998. Seed dispersal by Ceratogymna hornbills in the Dja Reserve, Cameroon. Journal of Tropical Ecology 14:351-371.

Asia

Datta, A. (1998) Hornbill abundance in unlogged forest, selectively logged forest and a plantation in western Arunachal Pradesh, India. Oryx, 32, 285-294.

-----, & Rawat, G. S. (2003) Foraging patterns of sympatric hornbills in the non-breeding season in Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India. Biotropica, 35, 208-218.

------, Hunting for hornbills: approaches to conservation in Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India. The Active Management of Hornbills and their Habitats For Conservation, (eds A. C. Kemp & M. I. Kemp), p. 41. CD-ROM Proceedings of the 4th International Hornbill Conference, Mabula Game Lodge, Bela-Bela, South Africa. Naturalists & Nomads, Pretoria.

Kemp, A.C. 1995. The hornbills, Bucerotiformes. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Kinnaird, M. F. & O'Brien, Timothy G. 2005. Fast food in the forest: The influence of figs on primates and hornbills across Wallace's Line. Edited by Dew, J. Lawrence; Boubli, Jean P. Tropical Fruits and Frugivores: The Search for Strong Interactors. Springer. New York. Pages 155-184.

------, 2008. The Ecology and Conservation of Asian Hornbills: Farmers of the Forest. University of Chicago Press. Pages 352.

Kitamura, S., et al. 2002. Interactions between fleshy fruits and frugivores in a tropical seasonal forest in Thailand. Oecologia 133:559-572

------, et al. (2004) Pattern and impact of hornbill seed dispersal at nest trees in a moist evergreen forest in Thailand. J. Tropical Ecology 20:545-553

------, et al. (2004) Dispersal of Aglaia spectabilis, a large-seeded tree species in a moist evergreen forest in Thailand. J. Tropical Ecology 20:421-427

More references about Hornbills

Sources

Wikipedia

The Hornbill Research Foundation

Earthlife.net

Tim Laman's pictures of Hornbills