Rhinoceros Hornbill

Buceros rhinoceros. Java, Indonesia. Circa 1833.

Attention to detail was a high priority in the restoration of this historic diorama in 2010. Even the hornbill’s prey, which is a small flying dragon, is an original.

BRINGER OF GOOD LUCK
The rhinoceros hornbill can reach 90 centimeters in length and weigh nearly three kilograms, making it one of the largest representatives of the hornbill family. It is native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia, far from human influence, where it feeds on fruit and hunts small lizards. Its most striking feature is its large, curved beak with a distinctive, bulging casque of light bone tissue. The tip of the beak is used like a finger to pluck fruit from the trees; the serrated edges are use to grasp and tear apart animal prey.
Like all hornbills, rhinoceros hornbills are famous for their nesting habits. After mating, the female lays one or two eggs in a hollow tree trunk and closes the entrance from within using a mix of food, dung, and wood chips, leaving only a small slit open. This wall becomes so hard that after the incubation period the birds have difficulty breaking it open again.
The female stays walled up in her “prison” for three months. While she is sitting on her eggs, she is in moult and becomes flightless. The male has the task of bringing food for all the occupants of the tree nest. If anything happens to him during this time, the entire family will starve. As soon as the young are fledged, the parents break open the cavity, and they all leave the protective nest.
In Asia, rhinoceros hornbills are considered a symbol of great loyalty and as a bringer of luck. The species may need all that luck for their continued existence as the pristine rainforests that the rhinoceros hornbill needs to survive are being cut down at an alarming rate.