Singapore Oriental Pied Hornbill Family - Dad catches snails & more feedings - 22 Nov 2024

Описание: 22 Nov 2024
Changi Village, Singapore

Music:    • Sao Songe - Uyau Moris [Official] Traditio...   Sau Songe by Uyau Moris on Dayak Sape. The hornbill is a symbol of the Dayak people groups in Borneo.

See other videos of this hornbill nesting between Nov 2024 & Feb 2025:
   • Singapore Oriental Pied Hornbill Family - ...   19 Nov - mum sealing herself in the nest
   • Singapore Oriental Pied Hornbill Family - ...   1 Dec Dad's feedings
   • Singapore Oriental Pied Hornbill Family - ...   8 Feb Dad's feedings

Hornbills are unique in that every breeding season, the female will seal itself in a nest hole for a few months to incubate eggs and raise chicks, while being totally dependent on the male to feed it from outside. For the Oriental Pied Hornbill, the sealing period is about 90 days or 3 months.

On 19 Nov 2024, I spotted a female Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) sealing itself inside it's nest hole. I came back on 22 Nov to find the nest hole was all sealed up and the male (a Southern Pied Hornbill) dutifully feeding the female with many snails. Both female & chicks have since broken out of the nest hole as of 15 Feb 2025.

Oriental Pied Hornbills typically eat sugar rich fruits & help play an important role in forest ecosystems by dispersing seeds from large-fruited trees. However, during breeding season, they often switch to lipid rich foods & invertebrates. You can see the male catching and carrying snails to the female at the nest tree in this video.

The snail shown at 2:10 is a Giant African land snail. It is an invasive species that has taken over most of Singapore. Our hornbills are helping restore ecological balance by eating so many of these invasive snails.

The Oriental Pied Hornbill was locally extinct in mainland Singapore since the 1800s, due to habitat destruction and hunting for it's casque. They have been successfully reintroduced to Singapore through the Singapore Hornbill Project in the early 2000s, which helped provide artificial nestboxes for them to breed. Now, it can be easily found in many areas of Singapore.

   • Singapore Hornbill Project - Return of the...   Some of Singapore Hornbill Project's activities
   • Hornbill Breeding   Nest cam of a artifical nest box from Singapore Hornbill Project
   • Devoted hornbill couple turn nest into for...   BBC video of a Oriental Pied Hornbill nest

Note: While these birds are nice to watch, please do not feed them as it causes the birds to get accustomed to human feeding. Feeding wild birds in Singapore is also an offence under Singapore law. https://mothership.sg/2021/01/man-fin...