Wreathed Hornbill

The wreathed hornbill is a medium-sized hornbill 75–90 cm long; males weigh 1.68–3.65 kg and females 1.36–2.69 kg. Males are black with a rufous crown, a white upper breast and face and a bright yellow featherless throat, while females are uniformly black with a blue throat and are slightly smaller. It is also called the bar-pouched wreathed hornbill for the distinctive blue-black band on its lower throat sac (Wikipedia, general species account).

It ranges over the foothills and evergreen forests of north-east India and Bhutan to Bangladesh, mainland Southeast Asia and the Greater Sundas, up to about 2,560 m, with nests 18–28 m above ground. It is a frugivore that feeds mainly on large fruits, swallowing them whole and so dispersing seeds over long distances. It travels far to forage, sometimes flying between islands, but does not migrate. It is threatened by hunting, habitat fragmentation and deforestation. SoIB 2023 rates it a High conservation priority, a resident forest bird with a Restricted range of about 29,000 km² (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).