Two-hornbilled hornbill. Hornbill family, also known as great hornbill, large-billed finch, great spotted hornbill, etc., is mainly distributed in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and other places, and is distributed in Yunnan, China. The two-hornbill likes to inhabit the low mountains, woods at the foot of the mountains, and plain forests below 1,500 meters above sea level, and mainly feeds on tropical plant fruits, insects, reptiles, rodents, etc. The basic characteristics of the two-horned hornbill are: milky white head and neck, long thick eyelashes, black cheeks and throat; The top of the upper beak and helmet are orange-red, the lower beak is ivory-white, and the side of the beak is orange-yellow; shoulders, dorsal shoulders, waist, thorax, and upper tail feathers black, belly and tail feathers white; wings black, tips white with wing spots; tail feathers tip black banded spots; The legs are grayish-green or brown, and the claws are black. Among them, the male two-hornbill is larger than the female, and the yellow-white wing spots of the body feathers are more beautiful, obvious and easy to identify.
The two-horned hornbill is famous for its gorgeous plumage and noble body; The two-horned hornbill can never change mates for life, and if either male or female bird dies, the other will go on a hunger strike and die of martyrdom. The most prominent feature of the two-horned hornbill is the large beak and the large and wide helmet, its large and wide helmet has two horn-like protrusions on the front edge, like the big horn on the rhinoceros nose, which resembles the mighty helmet of ancient warriors, hence the name; Its large, magically curved sickle-shaped mouth, about 30 centimeters long, may look bulky, but it is actually hollow inside, and it is very dexterous to use, whether it is easy to pick berries, catch rats and insects, and peel nuts. The two-hornbill also has a peculiar posture of jumping and walking, with its head and neck stretched out straight when it walks; When chirping, the bird looks upwards and points its beak and helmet vertically to the sky, sometimes making a rough and loud call.
The nest of the two-hornbill is mostly borrowed for use, most of them choose to nest in the natural tree cavities such as tall banyan trees and linden trees, and the breeding period is from March to June, usually 1-2 eggs can be laid in one nest, and the incubation period is about 40 days; The parent bird has a clear division of labor, that is, the female bird undertakes the task of incubating the eggs, the male bird is responsible for the food supply during the whole incubation and brooding period, and the chicks need to be raised by the female for more than 3 months to live independently. At the same time, the two-hornbill incubates its eggs in a more peculiar way, the female incubates her eggs in an almost completely enclosed tree hole, and if the male dies unexpectedly while foraging outside, the female will stay in the hole without eating or drinking, and the chicks will starve to death because they have no food. Therefore, the unique way of the two-horned hornbill to raise offspring together is called a ghost bird by the folk; In addition, the gradual disappearance of large nesting trees, habitat destruction, illegal hunting and other problems have led to the increasingly scarce population of wild two-hornbills, which is at risk of extinction, so it is included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which is a vulnerable species. It is included in China's "List of Wild Animals under National Key Protection", and the protection level is at the national level.