Comments on: Hornbills Share a Meal

By: Mike Grue

Mike Grue — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:32:54 +0000

Hi Lid,

Many zoo keepers do have a preference for a certain type of animal. Some love to work with carnivors, maybe specializing with bears or big cats. Others like to work with small mammals like meerkats. My specialty–as you can probably guess–is birds. I don’t have a preference for any type of bird, but I have the most experience with waterfowl. Most of my coworkers have a lot more bird knowledge than I do so I’m trying to get some of them to share their knowledge and experiences in their own blog…I think some of them are too shy though!

By: Mike Grue

Mike Grue — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:26:42 +0000

Shirley,

We do tend to feed the Hornbills in the mid-afternoon. There isn’t a specific time we feed them, but we are usually in the area feeding them and other birds around 4:00 (give or take half an hour). Delilah is still at the zoo. She is still with the trainers who used to be at Hunte but they (trainers and hornbill) are currently located near the Rhinos.

By: Mike Grue

Mike Grue — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:52:10 +0000

Jeremy,
Thanks for the great question! You are correct that this sharing is an important step for two hornbills that may potentially end up mating. In the wild, some female hornbills will wall themselves up in a cavity in a tree. They will close the hole they squeezed into and make a “wall” with a combination of their food, saliva, and (yes) their feces. They will leave a small hole for their mate to pass them food. The female will lay her eggs, incubate them, and then take care of the young without ever leaving her nest! This can mean many months cooped up in that small space. The male is responsible for bringing enough food for his mate and eventually their young when they hatch.

Now ground hornbills do not necessarily wall themselves in the same way their more arboreal cousins do, but the same principals do apply. This means that before a female ground hornbill will mate with a potential suitor, she has to make sure that he is willing to share his food! If he is of the stingy kind, it wouldn’t make much sense for her to invest her time into taking care of their eggs.

By: Lid

Lid — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:26:09 +0000

I have a question…does ever zoo keeper takes care of certain animals or specific, or their preference of animals ? and when they do take care of the animals do they always keep stats about them and write it up? I am wondering bcuz they are so much of you..

By: Shirley Sykes

Shirley Sykes — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:17:12 +0000

Thanks for the great blog, Mike. How old are the hornbills? Do you feed the them around the same time each day? I know many of us “regulars” would make a point of being there to watch these fascinating behaviors evolving. We still miss Delilah (?) who used to be on the Reptile Mesa and who would run around the enclosure as my grandkids ran. Is she still with the former Hunte Amphitheater group?

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:29:02 +0000

Great blog post – its little things like this that continue to fascinate me about the animal world. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t this type of behavior in hornbills usually a precursor to breeding? I love the photo too, of the dark red wattle on the Southern Ground Hornbill – such a beautiful and unique looking animal.

By: kathy

kathy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:23:12 +0000

Striking looking bird, almost a pelican like beak and I love the colors of them. I’ve honestly never seen one before and sounds like they have some ‘attitude’ Would love to see the standoff between them, I can just imagine it!

By: Susan (UK)

Susan (UK) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:46:50 +0000

How long will it be, I wonder, until the female ‘begs’ every time. I hope the male gets some food for himself! Wildlife always has surprises for us doesn’t it?