Rufous Necked Hornbill    Aceros nipalensis

Etymology: 

• Aceros : Greek word for hornless

• Nipalensis : From Nepal

Distribution in India: Resident of East Himalayas & North East India.

Description: Size of 90–100 cm; Weight of male 2500 g, Weight of female 2270 g. It is a very large hornbill; has rather pale-yellow bill with black stripes. The male has rufous head, neck and underparts, glossy black upperparts and wings, broad white tips of wings, black tail with white distal half; bare skin around eye is blue; inflatable bare throat skin red, enhanced by violet-blue patch at base of lower mandible and under chin. The female is smaller than male. The rufous parts of plumage in male replaced by black, circumorbital skin duller blue, throat skin more scarlet and bare skin on chin more violet-blue. The juvenile is similar to adult male but bill smaller without dark stripes and eye greenish white, while young female retains some rufous feathers on head and neck.

Habitat: It is found in dense evergreen and deciduous hill forest, mainly along ridges and in mountain. It is found at 150–2200 m.

Food habits: It eats fruits, including figs and mangoes. It forages in canopy, only rarely descending to ground for fallen items. It is usually in pairs or in small family groups.

Breeding habits: They breed in in Jan–Jun. The pair engage in courtship display and nest-hole excavation. They are monogamous and territorial. The nest is in natural hole in a tall forest tree. The female seals nest with droppings and food remains. Sometimes lays replacement clutch and may reuse same nest-site in subsequent season. They lay a clutch of 1–2 white eggs. The female remains sealed in nest for 3 months, emerges when chick fledges.