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Welcome Tuesday it is creature day and this week's creature is the Wreathed Hornbill if you haven't guessed it's a bird.
This distinctive bird has specialised ridges on the top of its beak called casques, they signify dominance and gender. he males throats are yellow and the female is blue.
They mate for life and have a breeding practice akin to an ancient Egyptian burial. When the female is ready to lay its eggs she builds a nest in a tree cavity, the male then entombs her in the cavity, sealing it with mud, fruit and faeces and leaving only a slender hole through which he feeds her and their chicks.
For about four months time the female and her offspring are dependent on the male for survival.
Oh, how interesting!! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh - he entombs her for four months - I am claustrophobic!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness I did not know this. Wow. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteRita.........They are
ReplyDeleteSandie.......Me too
Debby.......Thanks
We have hornbills at our zoo, not this bright colored, though
ReplyDeleteThat IS interesting.
ReplyDelete