Meet the Hornbill

Hornbills are strange birds indeed. They are large too. The smallest of the forty-five different kinds is at least two feet long. The largest is five feet long. Their most striking feature, however, is the great crest which develops on top of the already large bill and gives the birds their name.
Hornbills are Old World birds. They are found in Africa, south of Sahara, and also in southern Asia and some of the large Pacific island. Most of them are birds of the forests, but in Africa some are found in the grasslands where they usually live on the ground.

The strangest thing about hornbills is their nesting habit. Most of them use hollows in trees in which to nest. Some of these may be enlarged woodpecker holes, but most are natural holes. The female, ready to lay her eggs, enter the nest. Then her mate plasters up the hole until only a small slit remains. The male then feeds the female all through the nesting period. The female lays from one to six usually two or four eggs. In twenty- eight to forty days these hatch into small, helpless young. It is usually four to eight weeks before the young can fly. In some cases the mother bird remains inside the hole until the young are ready to leave. But more often she chips her way out when the young are half grown and helps the male to feed them.