Visayan hornbill
| Tarictic Hornbill | |
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| Pair at Avifauna in Alphen aan de Rijn, The Netherlands. | |
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| Species: | P. panini
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| Binomial name | |
| Penelopides panini Boddaert, 1783
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The Tarictic Hornbill (Penelopides panini) is a hornbill found in rainforests on the islands of Panay, Negros, Masbate, and Guimaras, and formerly Ticao, in the Philippines. This bird is distinguished by its bill with a hollow horny "casque" on top of it. This "horn" is mainly made of keratin.
Description
The adults show sexual dimorphism. The male has a creamy white head, a white upper chest with the lower chest being reddish/brown. The female has a black chest and more black on the head and neck.
Diet and behavior
Tarictic Hornbills live in groups and frequent the canopy of rainforests. These birds are noisy and emit an incessant sound that sounds like ta-rik-tik, hence the name. Despite their noise they are difficult to find, being well camouflaged by the dense foliage.
The principal food of Tarictic Hornbill is fruit. It also eats insects, beetles, ants and earthworms (rarely).
Taxonomic history
The status of the hornbills in this genus is a matter of debate. There are a number of forms previously considered as races of one species which The Handbook of the Birds of the World now separates as individual species. See the article of the genus Penelopides for the current taxonomy.
The Tarictic Hornbill is split into two subspecies:
- Visayan Tarictic Hornbill, Penelopides panini panini - Panay, Negros, Masbate and Guimaras
- Ticao Tarictic Hornbill, Penelopides panini ticaensis - Ticao (extinct)
Conservation
This is a highly endangered species. Only 600 pairs are left in the world. There has been a heavy decline in population due to hunting and loss of habitat caused by deforestation. The subspecies ticaensis was described as "abundant" in 1905, but almost the entire forest on the island was replaced by plantations and settlements in the 20th century. The last time the Ticao Tarictic was seen was in 1971, and it is now considered extinct. This was the first form of hornbill to go extinct in recorded history; many other taxa in the family are now at risk.
Captivity
This species has just been imported from Panay in the Philippines by Chester Zoo, England. There are two pairs at Chester, and two pairs at Avifauna in the Netherlands (which were kept at Chester for around 4 months). Chester zoo currently has a pair breeding in their old St Lucia amazon parrot aviary.
In the past, Los Angeles zoo has bred the birds, but it is not known whether these birds were pure penelopides panini panini, so it may not be the first captive breeding of this species; that title may go to a breeding centre on Panay, where Chester's birds came from.
References
- Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is endangered and the criteria used