
Photo: (c) Dan Vickers, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY
Anorrhinus austeni
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
Diet
Fruit and small animals; 40–79% animal matter (arthropods, molluscs, earthworms, reptiles, bats, eggs and chicks)
Habitat
Forest
Range
North-eastern India to Vietnam and northern Thailand
Size
Male 73–80cm
Weight
Male 710–900g
Austen's brown hornbill, also called the white-throated brown hornbill, is a medium-sized hornbill of forests from north-eastern India to Vietnam and northern Thailand. It has dark brown upperparts with a lighter belly, cheeks and throat, white tips to the tail and wings, and blue bare skin around the eyes. The bill and casque are ivory white in females and cream in males, and the female has a yellow wash below the eye. The male is 73–80 cm long and weighs 710–900 g (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is rare throughout its range and threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Compared with other hornbills it is an animal specialist, spending more time hunting animals below the canopy, though it also eats fruit; animal matter is 40–79% of its diet. Non-breeding offspring stay in a social group with their parents, and the birds make loud screams, croaks, squeals and a nasal ank-ank-ank call.