Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

Whenever I see a hornbill, and I behold that mighty beak and its casque, all I see is a massive wedge of toenail, complete with fungal infection. I want to call my grandpa's podiatrist and have him prescribe these birds some sort of anti-fungus medication, anything to mend what seems to be a jagged mass of bone and keratin.

Like other hornbills, the silvery-cheeked hornbill is a smart bird. They inhabit tall evergreen forests in eastern Africa, from the Sudan and Ethiopia, all the way sown to south Africa. They feast on almost anything they can get their beak on, including fruits, insects, and small vertebrates.

Photo source: Helen Grose
Silvery-cheeked hornbills are dutiful parents. They share the task of incubating the eggs in a nest cavity. Once the eggs hatch, the female seals herself in the nest with the chicks until they are half grown. Meanwhile, daddy brings home fruit in his gullet and regurgitates them for the family. At one such nest it was estimated that the male brought home 24,000 fruits in a 120-day breeding cycle (200 fruits a day!).

My kids may not always like what we put on the table for dinner, but they need to count their blessings that I don't come home from work with an engorged gullet and then proceed to regurgitate softened spaghetti and salad for that night's meal. It's all about perspective.

Walk the Wilderness

If you want to see a superior nature blog that features original photography of Indian wildlife, then you must visit Walk the Wilderness. It's run by Thomas and Shilpy, who visit various wildlife sanctuaries to capture amazing shots. Not only do they detail the wildlife, but they also discuss how the shot was taken, with what equipment, and how the image was processed after the fact.

My only complaint about Walk the Wilderness is that there aren't nearly enough ugly animals on it. Instead, they have elephants and tigers and peacocks and leopards. Take this photo they took of a painted stork. It's but one in a fantastic series. The only thing that qualifies it for this blog is that we get to see an inordinate amount of its wrinkly orange scalp. Even then, the more I look at it, especially at those eyes, the prettier I find it.










Check out their site. You won't be disappointed. Then come back here once you've been detoxified.

Thanks, Thomas and Shilpy. You've got a good thing going.

Shoe Bills

The shoebill is one of my favorite birds, though I've never seen one in person. They get very large, upwards of 115-150 cm (45-64 in) tall, with a wingspan of 230-260 cm (91-125 in).

I imagine that bill can do some damage, given that it's used to scoop up and devour small crocodiles. They're even reported to feed on young calves. They were known to ancient Arabs, who called them abu markub, meaning father with a shoe. They've even been spotted in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

That shoe bill, which is indeed the size of an adult human shoe, is not only used in devastating attacks, but can be filled with water, which the mother uses to dowse her young in the nest. I'm not sure why she'd do that. But then, if I could fill my mouth with a couple of pints of water, I'd probably dowse all sorts of people--the kids, my wife, coworkers, passersby... I wouldn't have many friends.