It is found only on the Philippine island of Mindoro, making it a true single-island specialist and the island’s only hornbill species. The body is mostly creamy white on the head, neck and underparts, with black wings and a black tail tipped with white. Both males and females share this same basic pattern, which is unusual among the “tarictic” hornbills; in most of their close relatives, the sexes look very different, with males mostly white and females mostly black.

In Mindoro hornbills, the trick to telling them apart is in the details: males have pinkish or reddish skin around the eye, while females have bluish eye skin. Their bill is relatively short for a hornbill and marked with fine dark bands, topped with a modest casque—a small ridge rather than the huge helmets seen in some larger species—so the whole head looks tidy and well-balanced rather than oversized.

This hornbill’s life is tightly bound to trees. It prefers lowland and foothill forests up to around 1,000 metres, especially primary forest, but it will also use secondary growth, forest edges and even lone fruiting trees in farmland, as long as there are enough large trees nearby for nesting and roosting. Most of its food is fruit, particularly figs and other soft, sugary fruits that it swallows whole and later “plants” via its droppings, making it an important seed disperser for many forest trees. It also catches insects, small lizards and other tiny prey to add protein to its diet, especially when feeding chicks.

The most dramatic part of the Mindoro hornbill’s life is the nesting season. Like other hornbills, the female chooses a natural cavity high in a tree trunk, and once she is inside, she and the male plaster up the entrance with mud, fruit pulp and droppings until only a narrow slit remains. She stays sealed in with the eggs—and later chicks—for weeks to months, depending on the nesting stage, relying entirely on the male to deliver all food through the tiny opening.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Philippines

350-1,500

Official estimate

EN

2020

Breeding