Handbook of the Birds of the World: Volume 6, mousebirds to hornbills edited
by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott and Jordi Sargatal, Lynx Editions, £110,
ISBN 848733430X
WHO’D be a female hornbill? Having mated, she seals herself inside her nest
chamber, leaving only a slit for the males to pass her food. She remains
imprisoned until her young fledge as much as four months later. This
extraordinary breeding cycle is practised by all but two of the world’s 54
species of hornbill.
According to the Handbook of the Birds of the World: Volume 6, female
hornbills probably do this to…
