The Oriental Pied Hornbill

On some sunny mornings, I can hear a distinct call coming from the trees just outside my living room window. It is unlike any other chirping, it sounds a little like the kookabarra’s laughing call but it isn’t. It is the song of the Oriental Pied Hornbill, one of my favourite wild bird species in Singapore.

Beautiful but loud birds

The Orientals are a loud group of birds. You can hear them flapping their wings if you are close enough and also they are quite vocal. When they come visit the river outside my house, they come as a family of three, I think their young still comes with mom and dad. They fly from tree to tree looking for fruits, and you can see them in the branches when they eat.

The birds’ color gives it absolutely no camouflage at all. The unique white tips of their wings and yellow headcrests makes them easy to spot. Maybe its because they have no predators here?

Fruit mainly but also insects and birds

While the Orientals eat mainly fruit, they also can hunt insects and other birds. A few years ago when I was in pre-school, there was once a hornbill came to my door step as I was leaving the house. On the other side of my garden, there was a huge grasshopper hurrying into the bushes. My mom had to carry me and shield me because it came so close. I could hear it flapping its wings as it took off.

My parents also tell me that they saw a hornbill eating a small songbird from its cage in the neighbourhood. This was when the uncles in the neighbourhood hung their songbirds in cages outside their windows to let the birds enjoy the breeze. They saw a hornbill using the chance to use its beak to pry the songbird from the cage. What an incredible sight that must have been!

Once extinct in Singapore

The Orientals have a very special nesting behavior. The female would find a tree hollow and seal herself in using a mixture of mud and saliva. Her ‘husband’ (hornbills pair up for life) would then be in charge of bringing food back to her while she takes care of the eggs and young.

Sadly, these beautiful birds once left Singapore for good. They left mainly because they couldn’t find enough nesting places and Singapore was building too many buildings too fast. Luckily for us, our National Parks started building bird boxes around the island. The boxes helped the hornbills, who were probably from Malaysia, find homes here and they started to return.

I’m so glad we have hornbills in the estate. I love it when they come to visit and we always have fun watching the family hop around. I hope you spot one around you!