IN KHAO SOK NATIONAL PARK
Khao Sok is famous for its wildlife.
Especially a large variety of birds can be found here.
Khao Sok is famous for its wildlife. Especially a large variety of birds can be found here. For example: Sunbirds, chesnut- headed Bee eater, comon kingfisher, Olive Rudy kingfisher, Osprey Eagle, Brahminy Kite, Great Hornbill and much more.
Hornbills
There are 57 different species of hornbill in the world, nine of which live in Khao Sok National Park. Hornbills are characterised by a long, down-curved bill, sometimes with a casque (horn) on the upper mandible (bill). The casque is hollow and serves no known purpose although they are believed to be the result of sexual selection. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family refer to the shape of the bill, "buceros" being "cow horn" in Greek. Males are usually larger than females being up to 17% heavier and with up to 21% greater wingspan. Hornbills can live up to the age of 30 years.
The Black, Great, Helmeted, Rhinoceros, White Crowned, and Wrinkled Hornbills are classified as ëlower risk, near threatenedí with the other three (Bushy-crested, Wreathed and Oriental Pied) ëlower risk, least concerní as per the IUCN Red list. The Great and Helmeted Hornbills are also in appendix I of CITES, since the casque can be used as a carving material, similar to ivory.
Hornbills are monogamous and tend to mate for life. Before nesting, the male offers the female a food gift and takes her to the nest site ñ which is a hole in the side of a tree or cliff face. The female then enters this hole and proceeds to block up the entrance with organic materials, whilst the male does the same from the outside. Only a very small hole is left open, large enough for food and excrements to be passed into and out of the nest, preventing the nest from being raided by predators. In the larger species only 2 eggs are laid, but there maybe as many as 8 eggs in the clutches of smaller birds. Incubation lasts between 23 and 46 days (depending on the species and egg size) After about six or seven weeks, the female will break out of her prison and helps the male with food collection. Fledging can take anything between 42 and 137 days, again depending on the species, with sexual maturity occurring anything between a year (smaller species) to 3 to 6 years (larger species).
