Readers’ wildlife photos

April 8, 2015 • 6:30 am

Reader Phil sent hornbills:

Since you’ve just paid a (virtual) visit to Singapore, I thought you might be interested in some of the wildlife. Here is the Oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris). I took these at Changi Village.

And the following information is from a site called wildsingapore.com:

Oriental pied-hornbills nest in a suitable hole in a tall tree. The breeding pair seals the female inside the hole with a plaster of mud and fibres. The male gathers and delivers earth to the female, which seals herself inside the hole. A narrow slit is left open so he can feed her and the chicks. He brings them mostly fruits, insects, crabs and lizards, and sometimes, smaller birds. This remarkable behaviour is believed to deter large predators.

I don’t think this is a sexual dimorphism, so readers who know what that big beak-excrescence is for please weigh in below:

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James Billie shows us a sign of spring (this is also to be seen in the pond outside my building Chicago, where our turtles who have overwintered under the ice have now started hauling themselves up on flotsam to get some sun).

First turtle of spring:

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Sixteen turtles:

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Stephen Barnard made a funny:

These are my daughter’s kids. I guess that makes me a grandfather.

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20 thoughts on “Readers’ wildlife photos”

  1. A good grandfather would hire her a …. nanny.

    A Malaysian bird website posits that the large “casque” may be structural reinforcement for the large bill, which is worked hard with the earthmoving, hunting and fighting. Apparently in some species the casque is a lightweight honeycomb and in others (or one other the site mentions) it is solid ivory. Some have channels that add resonance to the bird’s song.

      1. Stephen, you old billy goat!

        What darling kids! I’d have guessed French Alpine, but I’ll bet they’re some breed I’ve never heard of. I see the dehorning has been done.

        1. I think they’re French Alpines. She has another breed (can’t remember the name) and sometimes crosses them, so I’m not certain.

          3. I think it’s because they can damage each other with horns, but I’m no expert, obviously.

          4. I knew Linda would check in with the answer. 🙂

            So many new breeds since I knew anything about them.

          5. I knew Linda would check in with the right answer. 🙂

            So many new breeds since I knew anything about them.

  2. MooT has explained the casque. Here’s a bit more info from Wikipedia:

    The most distinctive feature of the hornbills is the heavy bill, supported by powerful neck muscles as well as by the fused vertebrae.[2] The large bill assists in fighting, preening, constructing the nest, and catching prey. A feature unique to the hornbills is the casque, a hollow structure that runs along the upper mandible. In some species it is barely perceptible and appears to serve no function beyond reinforcing the bill. In other species it is quite large, is reinforced with bone, and has openings between the hollow centre, allowing it to serve as a resonator for calls.[1] In the helmeted hornbill the casque is not hollow but is filled with hornbill ivory and is used as a battering ram in dramatic aerial jousts.[3] Aerial casque-butting has also been reported in the great hornbill.[4][5]

    What a treat to see that hornbill, Phil!

    1. Yes, Diane, it was a treat. I was not on a photographic expedition, so had to grab my daughter’s camera. I have only seen the Hornbills on one other occasion in Singapore,in the Botanical Gardens.

  6. Growing up in Pittsburgh I spent a lot of time at the local aviary– which is actually the National Aviary. It’s a great place, and my favorite bird was always the hornbill. I remember learning that the structure was a resonator, and these birds do make quite a loud cry.

  7. Yay Turtles. I think they are Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta.

    The goats have very friendly expressions- cute kids for sure.

    So does the “horn” in hornbill refer to the fact that the structure is a resonator? No, probably that it looks like a horn, but I like the double entendre.

    1. Yes, painted turtles Chrysemys picta.

      In our case: Either subsp. C. p. picta or C. p. marginata, not really sure on that.

  8. There’s actually been a certain amount of argument among (mostly) vertebrate palaeontologists about whether non-sexually dimorphic structures can be attributed to sexual selection; ceratopsian and hadrosaurid dinosaurs might be examples, as might cassowaries and hornbills. I haven’t followed in detail but on the ‘pro’ side, suppose that either (1) only one sex is positively selected with respect to that particular display/combat structure but (unlike the peacock’s train or giant deer antlers) it carries little or no selective penalty in the unselected sex, or (2) there’s positive sexual selection (=preferential mate choice) for the same structure by both sexes. The ‘contra’ side seem to deny these possibilities and talk about ‘species recognition signals’ (if that sounds a vaguely group-selectionist concept, maybe it is).

    So, the possibility that hornbill casques are sexual display items despite sexual monomorphism can not necessarily, or at least not trivially, be dismissed.

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