the.com/hornbill
the bird that bricks its own mate into a tree and calls it love
means A tropical bird of Africa and Asia known for its large, often brightly colored downcurved beak, frequently topped with a hollow horn-like structure called a casque.
from A plain English compound, 'horn' plus 'bill' — the 'horn' being the casque, that curious helmet-like growth riding atop the beak, and 'bill' the old word for a bird's beak (related to Old English 'bile'). English speakers, confronted with a bird wearing what looked like a horn on its face, named it exactly what they saw.
- sealed nest
- Female walls herself inside, fed through a slit
- casque
- Hollow head-horn amplifies their honking calls
- eyelashes
- Sport real lashes, rare among birds
- forest gardeners
- Scatter seeds that regrow whole rainforests
- long haulers
- Some species live over 50 years
oriental pied hornbill — large black and white bird native to southeast asia with distinctive curved beak and casque on head
southern ground hornbill — endangered species in south africa with only ~200 pairs remaining in the wild
great hornbill — massive yellow and black hornbill found in indian subcontinent, up to 4.8 feet long