Captive Breeding and Management of the Jackson's Hornbill

Abstract

" Hornbill" - now that 's an interesting,
descriptive term. Hearing of
such an animal without some sort of
visual reinforcement would only set
my imagination free to concoct all
kinds of weird , anatomical shapes
and forms. Further, I'd bet the not-sogullible
residents of Missouri (the
"show me" state) would, with suspicious
skepticism, dismiss the existence
of such a creature as they might
a " jackalope" or a "devil chicken."
Well, hornbills indeed exist, and their
appearance, as well as reproductive
natural history, are probably more
bizarre than most people may imagine. 

Hornbills are representative of the
family Bucerotidae, within the order

Coraciiformes, which al so includes
hoopoes and the more familiar kingfishers
. The hornbill family alone .
consists of twelve genera, some fortyfive
species, various subspecies and
races, all of which are indigenous to
the Old World . A variety of different
forms are found in Africa , India,
throughout southeast Asia , and on
many islands of the Indo-Australian
region . It 's not surprising that the
greatest number of subspecies and
races have evolved among island
groups such as the Philippines which,
by their very nature, facilitate geographic
isolation