Posted by Kirsten Pisto, Communications
Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo
Meet Jack and Biscuit, our stunning male and female pair. Though they are similar in size and appearance, their eyes are distinctive. Jack has red eyes with a black rim. Biscuit has white eyes with a red rim. Hornbills mate for life and are extremely dedicated pairs. Visit them at Trail of Vines between siamangs—and fittingly— Glenn the rhino.
Range: Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and the islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo.
Habitat: Primary and secondary tropical rainforest. They depend on large trees with adequately sized cavities for nesting.
Diet: Rhinoceros Hornbills are primarily frugivores and play a very important role in restoring the rainforests, acting as seed dispersers as they travel long distances looking for fruiting trees. During the breeding season they also prey upon large invertebrates and small vertebrates to feed their chicks.
Wrinkled hornbills
Rhabdotorrhinus corrugatus
You’ll find Eliot in Conservation Aviary—soon to be joined by female Sedona. They are phenomenal foragers—fruit lovers at their core. The wrinkled casque—a specialized bump on top of its bill—is thought to amplify vocalizations. The male has a yellow throat while the female has a black throat and a smaller casque.
Range: Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand
Habitat: Primary lowland rainforest and coastal swamp forest where they nest in tree cavities. They help maintain biodiversity of the forest as seed dispensers.
Diet: They primarily eat fruit but will also eat small animals such as frogs and insects. Wrinkled hornbills rarely drink water and get most of the moisture they need from their food.
Southern Ground Hornbill
Bucorvus leadbeateri
Among the world’s largest hornbills, Mndeni and Mbali are our resident Southern ground hornbills. You can spot the male by a red throat patch while the female has a stunning blue-violet throat patch. They are known for their booming vocalizations—sometimes mistaken for a lion’s roar they are so loud! Listen for their love song in Conservation Aviary next time you stop by.
Range: Southern Africa
Habitat: Woodlands and savannas with dense grass and large trees for nesting
Diet: They are carnivorous and feed primarily on insects and small vertebrates
Conservation
Hornbills are heavily dependent on adequately sized trees for nesting and are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. They are also victims of illegal wildlife trade as exotic pets and for animal parts.
Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo
We’d like to introduce you to some fabulous, feathered friends in the hornbill department! Three species have recently landed, and we can’t wait for you to get to know them.
Rhinoceros hornbill
Buceros rhinoceros
Rhinoceros hornbill
Buceros rhinoceros
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| Jack has red eyes with a black ring around them. |
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| Biscuit has blueish-white eyes with a red ring around them. |
Meet Jack and Biscuit, our stunning male and female pair. Though they are similar in size and appearance, their eyes are distinctive. Jack has red eyes with a black rim. Biscuit has white eyes with a red rim. Hornbills mate for life and are extremely dedicated pairs. Visit them at Trail of Vines between siamangs—and fittingly— Glenn the rhino.
Range: Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and the islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo.
Habitat: Primary and secondary tropical rainforest. They depend on large trees with adequately sized cavities for nesting.
Diet: Rhinoceros Hornbills are primarily frugivores and play a very important role in restoring the rainforests, acting as seed dispersers as they travel long distances looking for fruiting trees. During the breeding season they also prey upon large invertebrates and small vertebrates to feed their chicks.
 |
| Biscuit the rhinoceros hornbill in Trail of Vines. |
Wrinkled hornbills
Rhabdotorrhinus corrugatus
 |
| Eliot the wrinkled hornbill in Conservation Aviary. |
You’ll find Eliot in Conservation Aviary—soon to be joined by female Sedona. They are phenomenal foragers—fruit lovers at their core. The wrinkled casque—a specialized bump on top of its bill—is thought to amplify vocalizations. The male has a yellow throat while the female has a black throat and a smaller casque.
Range: Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand
Habitat: Primary lowland rainforest and coastal swamp forest where they nest in tree cavities. They help maintain biodiversity of the forest as seed dispensers.
Diet: They primarily eat fruit but will also eat small animals such as frogs and insects. Wrinkled hornbills rarely drink water and get most of the moisture they need from their food.
Southern Ground Hornbill
Bucorvus leadbeateri
 |
| Mndeni our male Southern ground hornbill. Photo by Beth Keplinger |
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| Mbali, our female Southern ground hornbill |
Among the world’s largest hornbills, Mndeni and Mbali are our resident Southern ground hornbills. You can spot the male by a red throat patch while the female has a stunning blue-violet throat patch. They are known for their booming vocalizations—sometimes mistaken for a lion’s roar they are so loud! Listen for their love song in Conservation Aviary next time you stop by.
Range: Southern Africa
Habitat: Woodlands and savannas with dense grass and large trees for nesting
Diet: They are carnivorous and feed primarily on insects and small vertebrates
 |
| Biscuit and Jack, rhinoceros hornbills |
Conservation
Hornbills are heavily dependent on adequately sized trees for nesting and are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. They are also victims of illegal wildlife trade as exotic pets and for animal parts.
Woodland Park Zoo leads the Asian Hornbill Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE) Program, supporting the sustainability and protection of wild Asian hornbills within their natural ranges from poaching, trade, and habitat loss or degradation through science-based, and stakeholder-inclusive conservation action.
Woodland Park Zoo supports conservation of Asian hornbills by coordinating donations from many North American partners to the Hornbill Nest Adoption program run by the Hornbill Research Foundation in Thailand. This foundation runs a community nest protection and forest warden program which includes nest monitoring, repair of natural nests that have degraded over time, as well as installing artificial nests. You can adopt a hornbill nest today: zoo.org/nestadoptions
Woodland Park Zoo supports conservation of Asian hornbills by coordinating donations from many North American partners to the Hornbill Nest Adoption program run by the Hornbill Research Foundation in Thailand. This foundation runs a community nest protection and forest warden program which includes nest monitoring, repair of natural nests that have degraded over time, as well as installing artificial nests. You can adopt a hornbill nest today: zoo.org/nestadoptions
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| An artificial hornbill nest with a pleased resident. |
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