Breeding the Asian Black Hornbill (a Dream Come True Anthrococeros malaynus)

Abstract

For years I've dreamed of being able to work with hornbills. Something about this unique family of birds always fascinated me. I spent hours studying everything I could find on them and talking to people with experience with them. I read every article and book I could find, and all the information put out by the Captive Breeding Specialist Group. It even reached the point where I had to promise my wife that I would not say "I want" when going to a zoo or bird show where there maybe any hornbills.

We were offered a pair of Asian Black Hornbills Anthrococeros malaynus in late 1995 and, needless to say, we jumped at the opportunity.

Not being overly familiar with this species, I did a little research and found that it is a medium sized hornbill that is basically all black with broad white tips on the tail feathers. Males have horn-colored bills with a more pronounced casque, while the female is a little smaller bird with an all black bill and small casque and red throat and cheek patches. There is a broad superciliary strip.e (we call it an eyebrow) that varies from all white to charcoal gray in individuals.

This species seem to have a large range including Thailand, s from Trang, Peninsula Malaysia, Sumatra and other islands. It is a very adaptable species and should be easy to establish in captivity if people will work with it. There have been reports of them nesting in the tops of open palms in the wild, probably because of lost of habitat and large trees due to logging.

When we received the pair they were placed into a flight cage that measures 6 ft. wide x 8 ft. high x 32 ft. long. The back and front eight feet are covered with plywood, the front shelter is where the food station is located and the back shelter is where the nest box is located. There are three perches in the flight, one in the front at the food station, one in the back in front of the nest and one low in the middle for sunning. Moist clay-like mud is provided in a cement tub placed in the ground by the middle perch. All perches are firmly mounted as hornbills can hit a perch ve1y hard when they land. Plants in the flight include figs, guavas and a Tasmanian Tree Fern.

The nest is made of l,~ inch plywood with a second layer attached to the face on the inside to give a total thickness of l 1h inches thick at the entrance which provides a thicker surface for mudding up. You must remember that hornbills seal the entrance after the hen goes in to start laying and in many species the hen will completely molt all flight and tail feathers at once while in the nest. The edge of the entrance was roughened by drilling small hole all around it, .098 size drill.

The nest measures 19 in. x 19 in. x 18 in. tall. The entrance hole is a modified diamond shape being about five inches at the widest point and eight inches tall. The bottom of the entrance is about 2 1/2 inches from the bottom of the nest, so the hen can easily reach the entrance to defecate through and receive food from the male.

Upon release into the flight, the pair made themselves right at home, eating guavas and figs off the trees. Although I was told that this is a very nervous species that needs a lot of privacy, they showed no fear of me while feeding and would come within two feet of me. They were also very curious about their surroundings, always stretching to see what was going on around them. Their flight was in a high traffic area being within 20 feet of our horse corrals.

We placed them on a diet that includes apples, pears, cut grapes, papaya, blue-berries, figs, kiwi, guavas, bananas, frozen mixed vegetables, mice, crickets, wax worms, lizards, grasshoppers, soaked Zu Preem, Kaytee low iron softbill and...

PDF