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

hornbill 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 ...

native to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. The species is sometimes placed in the genus ''

Aceros The rufous-necked hornbill (''Aceros nipalensis'') is a species of hornbill in Bhutan, northeastern India, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is locally Local extinction, extinct in Nepal due to hunting an ...

''. The knobbed hornbill is the faunal symbol of

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Selatan) is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sul ...

province.

Description

This is a large black

with a yellow

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

, 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.

Distribution and habitat

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 ...

, the knobbed hornbill is found in

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...

Buton Buton (also Butung, Boeton or Button) is an island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi. It covers roughly 4,727 square kilometers in area, or about the size of Madura; it is the 129th largest island in the world and ...

Lembeh Lembeh is an island off the north east coast of Sulawesi near the city of Bitung. Lembeh Island is 25 km long and 2 km wide. Lembeh Island is separated from the mainland of Sulawesi by a narrow stretch of water known as the Lembeh Str ...

, Togian and

Muna Island Muna (Pulau Muna) is an island in the Southeast Sulawesi province of Indonesia with an area of and had a population of 316,293 at the 2010 Census and 368,654 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. It is just southeast of th ...

. It inhabits evergreen forest at an elevation of up to 1,800 m and also makes use of secondary forest, woodland and plantations for foraging. Aceros cassidix -North Sulawesi-4

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

Conservation

The species is currently classified as vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. Despite being locally very common, they are threatened by

habitat destruction 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 ...

from logging (since they depend on large and mature trees for breeding) and to some extent by hunting.

Gallery

File:Aceros cassidix -Weltvogelpark Walsrode, Germany-8a.jpg, Male at Walsrode Bird Park File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - MMNAT01 AF NNM001000152 - Natuurkundige Commissie voor Nederlandsch-Indië - Bird species - Art.jpg, Early drawing by the Dutch colonial Natuurkundige Commissie voor Nederlands-Indië, 1820s. File:Aceros cassidix 2 (Frank Wouters).jpg, File:Aceros cassidix -Vogelpark Walsrode -pair-8a.jpg, Pair at Walsrode Bird Park, Germany File:Cranorrhinus_cassidix_190.jpg, Skeleton

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27074824

knobbed hornbill The knobbed hornbill (''Rhyticeros cassidix''), also known as Sulawesi wrinkled hornbill, is a colourful hornbill native to Indonesia. The species is sometimes placed in the genus '' Aceros''. The knobbed hornbill is the faunal symbol of South S ...

Endemic birds of Sulawesi