A Bird Watcher is Born!

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Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis)

Resident- mature forests of Himalayas, NE India and W Ghats.

State Bird of Arunachal Pradesh & Kerala.

Huge & noisy canopy dwelling and fruit eating bird with a massive yellow beak & casque.

Their breeding behavior is unique. The female seals herself in a tree cavity, loses all her feathers & is flightless and helpless!

The devoted male provides food to his mate & nestlings through a narrow slit, making up to 70 trips
a day.

Endangered due to habitat loss and hunting.


 

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About the author

As a Doctor-Pediatrician based in the bustling metropolis Mumbai, I find bird watching a state of Nirvana in Nature. The seed was sown at St Xavier's High School, Fort - a 150 year old institution, whose stone Gothic buildings and wooden paraquet flooring, complete with chapels, seminary and secret passages also houses a natural history museum of stuffed birds in their habitats. Ever since I was in class 2, I would gaze at the stuffed exhibits; imagining myself to be in Nature, with the birds and animals coming alive around me. I have been passionately pursing birds since last 23 years; having travelled and trekked across India and abroad to all habitats; Himalayas, forests, wetlands, grasslands, deserts and upto Antarctica – all in the search of wild birds; balancing my career and my passion.

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