Visayan hornbill

TheVisayan hornbill(Penelopides panini) is ahornbillfound in tropical moist lowland forests of  thePhilippinesin theWestern Visayasregion which includes the islands ofPanay,Negrosand formerly as well as the island ofMasbate, and formerlyTicao, in thePhilippines.  As is the case with all five Philippinetarictic hornbills, formerly considered to be just one species.It is declining due tohabitat destruction,huntingand theillegal wildlife trade.
It is illegal to hunt, capture or possess these birds under Philippine Law RA 9147.
The adults showsexual dimorphism. The male has a creamy-white head and neck, a white upper chest, a reddish-brown lower chest and uppertail-coverts, and a creamy-white buff tail with a broad black tip. The bill and casque are blackish; the former with yellowish ridges. The bare ocular skin is pinkish-white. The tail and bill of the female resemble that of the male, but otherwise theplumageof the female is black, and the ocular skin is blue.
Visayan hornbills live in groups and frequent the canopy of rainforests. These birds are noisy and emit an incessant sound that sounds liketa-rik-tik, hence the name. Despite their noise they are difficult to find, being well camouflaged by the densefoliage.
Diet is presumed to be similar to other hornbills namely fruit,seeds, insects and small mammals and reptiles.
The Visayan hornbill was described by the French polymathGeorges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffonin 1780 in hisHistoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved byFrançois-Nicolas Martinetin thePlanches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturellewhich was produced under the supervision ofEdme-Louis Daubentonto accompany Buffon's text.Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalistPieter Boddaertcoined thebinomial nameBuceros paniniin his catalogue of thePlanches Enluminées.Thetype localityis the island ofPanayin the Philippines.The Visayan hornbill is now placed in the genusPenelopidesthat was introduced in 1849 by the German naturalistLudwig Reichenbachin a plate of the hornbills.The origin of the generic name is uncertain but it may be a combination of the Latinpenemeaning "almost" or "nearly", theAncient Greeklophosmeaning "crest" and-oideēs"resembling". Thespecific epithetpaniniis a Latinized form of "Panay".The common English name refers to theVisayan Islands. These are located in the central part of the Philippines and include the island of Panay.
Formerly was once a single species with theLuzon hornbill,Samar hornbill,Mindanao hornbillandMindoro hornbill. It is differentiated from the others as it has a black tail with a broad white band. Among the tarictics it has the second highest sound frequency and rapidness in its calls after theSamar hornbill.
Twosubspeciesare recognized:
They are primarilyfrugivorouseating figs and berries but they are also known to eatinsects,lizardsand other small animals. Usually seen in pairs but can form flocks of up to 15 birds.
All hornbills are monogamous and mate for life.They arecavity nestersand rely on largedipterocarptrees for breeding. The female seals itself within the tree cavity and the male is in charge of gathering food for its mate and chicks. The male stores food in agular pouchand regurgitates it to feed its mate and chicks.
Cooperative breeding, wherein immature birds from previous seasons help out in feeding the female and chick has not been observed with this species so far. Among Philippine hornbills, it has only been recorded with theRufous hornbill.
Lays eggs in March to April.  Clutch size is typically 2 to 3 eggs. No studied on incubation period but based onLuzon hornbillincubation takes 28 to 31 days. The Visayan hornbill fledgeling occurs within 55 to 58 days of hatching.
This is a highly endangered species. TheInternational Union for Conservation of Natureassessment from  the year 2000 estimates that there are 1,200 individuals remaining in the wild.
This species' main threat ishabitat losswith wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range.Negros Islandis one of the most deforested areas in the country due to its sugar industry and logging with most of its forests being totally lost before the 21st century. Forest cover onNegrosandPanayis just 3% and 6% respectively and these figures are still declining.
However, there is conflicting data as the Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation has counted 3,584 hornbill just on the island ofNegros. More surveys are required to verify these claims.
The subspeciesticaensiswas described as "abundant" in 1905, but almost the entire forest on the island was replaced by plantations and settlements in the 20th century. The last time the Ticao tarictic was seen was in 1971, and it is now likely to beextinct. If confirmed, this is the firsttaxonof hornbill to go extinct in recorded history; many other taxa in the family are now at risk.
It occurs in a few protected areas withinMt. Kanlaon Natural ParkandNorthern Negros Natural Park; however, protection and enforcement against deforestation is lax. It also occurs in the proposedCentral Panay Mountain Range Parkwhich  contains the largest block of remaining forest in theWestern Visayas, and the tourist destination ofTwin Lakes (Mount Talinis). Both sites benefit from conservation funding but are still under threat by deforestation.
This bird is widely kept in captivity but due to the taxonomic reoragnization of the tarictic hornbill species complex it is unknown if these birds are of pure descent.
This species has just been imported from Panay in the Philippines byChester Zoo, England. There are two pairs at Chester, and two pairs atAvifaunain the Netherlands, amongst other collections.
In the past, theLos Angeles Zoohas bred this species, but it is not known whether these birds were purePenelopides panini panini, so it may not be the first captive breeding of this species; that title may go to a breeding centre on Panay, where Chester's birds came from. The Chester zoo has bred this species.
Talarak Foundation based onNegroshas bred multiple pure blooded Visayan hornbills.