The Sulu hornbill (''Anthracoceros montani''), or Montano's hornbill, is a species of hornbill in the family

Bucerotidae Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandibl ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the Sulu archipelago in the Philippines, with the remaining populations in

Tawi-Tawi Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( tl, Lalawigan ng Tawi-Tawi; Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim ...

with it believed to be hunted to extinction on

Jolo Jolo ( tsg, Sūg) is a volcanic island in the southwest Philippines and the primary island of the province of Sulu, on which the capital of the same name is situated. It is located in the Sulu Archipelago, between Borneo and Mindanao, and has ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is tropical moist

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

as well as potential harvesting for food. Its diet includes fruit, insects, and small lizards.''Anthracoceros montani'' factsheet
a

/ref> In 2019 it was reported that only 27 mature individual hornbills are still believed to be alive in the wild making it one of the most endangered animals in the world.

Description

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project ...

describes the bird as "A large bird of lowland and montane forest on the Sulu Islands, although probably only remaining on Tawi-Tawi. Feeds particularly on fig trees. One of the rarest birds in the world. Entirely black except for a white tail. Has a long, thick black bill, a black casque, and black bare skin around the eye. Male has pale eyes and female has brown eyes and a smaller casque. Unmistakable. The only hornbill in its range. Voice is a nasal cackling."

Habitat and Conservation Status

It inhabits primary

dipterocarp forest Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fr ...

, typically on mountain slopes (although this may simply reflect a constraint enforced by forest loss), occasionally visiting isolated fruiting trees over 1 km from the nearest forest. It requires large trees for nesting. Whilst the species's diet mainly consists of fruit, small lizards and some insects may also be consumed. IUCN has assessed this bird as critically endangered. In 2019 it was reported that only 27 mature individual hornbills are still believed to be alive in the wild. This makes it the most endangered hornbill and one of the most endangered animals in the entire world. It has gone extinct on the island of

, due to hunting and the remaining populations in

are threatened by habitat destruction through logging and

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

farming.

References

Sulu hornbill Endemic birds of the Philippines Fauna of Sulu Fauna of Tawi-Tawi Fauna of Basilan Sulu hornbill Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Coraciiformes-stub