Wreathed Hornbill

The wreathed hornbill is a medium-sized hornbill, 75 to 90cm long. Males are black with a rufous crown, a white upper breast and face and a yellow featherless throat, while females are uniformly black with a blue throat. Both have a pale yellow bill, bare reddish skin round the eye, a black band on the throat pouch and a white tail. Males weigh 1.68 to 3.65kg and females 1.36 to 2.69kg (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits tropical evergreen forest from southern Bhutan and north-east India through mainland Southeast Asia, up to 2,560m. In Bhutan two birds were sighted in Sarpang district in spring 1986. It feeds mainly on large fruits swallowed whole, which makes it an important long-distance seed disperser, and it nests 18 to 28m above ground. It lives in lowlands in the breeding season and moves higher in the non-breeding season. It is threatened by hunting and deforestation.