Kenyir, 27th to 30th October 2010
Mention the name ‘Hornbill’ and the images that flash by are of those large, magnificent bird with glorious, colorful, large casque and over-sized bill. But what I have here is a Hornbill that does not conform to our usual expectation of how a Hornbill should look like. Without a prominent casque, long shaggy white crest and dirty colored bill, many people would say that this WC Hornbill is the ugliest among the hornbills, but then, what right have we got to make that judgment? I believe, if they could talk they’ll tell us that they don’t need to look pretty to humans but prefer to be left alone in their natural habitat and help ensure their survival! Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?
All my previous encounters with Hornbills in Kenyir area have always been with their more recognized cousins, the Great Hornbill, Rhinoceros Hornbill and the Oriental Pied Hornbill. This was my first encounter with the White-Crowned Hornbill in this area. Unfortunately the distance and lighting gave me little opportunity to capture better images of this wonderful bird.
Female WC Hornbill with black underparts.
Male WC Hornbill with white underparts.
A distant shot of this lovely couple
About an hour later, I spotted another pair perched on a nearby tree but the male flew off before I had my gear set up, leaving me with just a few shots of this young female bird.
Beautiful shots. Well done because one does not come across this species often.
ReplyDeleteI'm still on the look out for this bird, ugly or not! Well done.
ReplyDeleteAri I think they are beautiful, but also "ancient" looking if that makes sense. As you say we should look after these creatures and make sure the forest is always there for them. You are too modest about your pictures and the effort you put into taking them.
ReplyDeleteNo!, not ugly at all.
ReplyDeletelike what Wai mun said, it is not easy seeing this bird, I spotted 3 individual at Kuala Koh Taman Negara Gua Musang feasting on ripe fruit and they flew away as soon as they saw me positioning my gears toward them...sad case because they were really close.
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