Investigation of nesting materials and diet of oriental pied hornbills during breeding season, in wild and in captivity.

• Main Author: Siti Nuradilah Idrus.
• Other Authors: Ng Soon Chye
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Zoology::Animal behavior
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/38916
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The female Oriental Pied Hornbill (OPH) sealed herself inside the nest cavity during the entire nesting period. She is fully dependent on the male OPH who is the sole provider of food and materials for her and their chicks during the nesting period. Using 24 hour CCTV surveillance and weight monitoring has made possible to observe the breeding behavior of the OPH, their eating habits and thus enable the comprehensive analysis of their diet. Mass analysis was done for the nesting materials and food sources brought by the male OPH. Quantity of soil brought peaked during the nesting preparation phase and progressively decrease after the fourth egg was laid. Total mass of food brought increased as the eggs started to hatch, with the protein sources increase in proportion to the amount observed before hatching. Cannibalism of last chick was observed, mainly due to competition for food among the chicks. Higher consumption of fruits may contribute to the survival of the third chick in its early age. Fruits intake increased as chicks grew older. This year P.Ubin IN OPHs has successfully bred three chicks for the first time as compared to last season.