Readers’ wildlife photos

Today we have the fifth batch of bird photos from Bhutan taken by Ephraim Heller (the others are here). Ephriam’s notes and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Here is installment #5 of photos from my April 2024 birding tour of Bhutan.

Today I post my photos of hornbills (Bucerotidae) and Kingfishers (Alcedinidae). Descriptions of the species below are taken from Wikipedia.

The great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is predominantly frugivorous, but also preys on small mammals, reptiles and birds. It is known to have lived for nearly 50 years in captivity.

The most prominent feature of the hornbill is the bright yellow and black casque on top of its massive bill. The casque is hollow and serves no known purpose, although it is thought to be the result of sexual selection.

The female hornbill builds a nest in the hollow of a large tree trunk, sealing the opening with a plaster made up mainly of feces. She remains imprisoned there, relying on the male to bring her food, until the chicks are half developed. During this period the female undergoes a complete moult. The mother is fed by her mate through a slit in the seal.

I was surprised to discover that great hornbills have eyelashes:

During courtship the male hornbill picks fruit with and then gifts it to the female hornbill. The female hornbill then tosses the fruit up in the air and eats it:

Great hornbill in flight:

Blyth’s kingfisher (Alcedo hercules) is the largest kingfisher in the genus Alcedo. A shy bird, it frequents small waterways, feeding on fish and insects caught by diving from a shrub close to the water. It is found along streams in evergreen forest and adjacent open country between 200 and 1,200 m (660 and 3,900 ft). The species ranges from Nepal through India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Even within its preferred habitat the density of the species is low, and the population, though not thoroughly surveyed, is believed to be small, and declining further:

The white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to China and Indonesia. It can often be found well away from water where it feeds on a wide range of prey that includes small reptiles, amphibians, crabs, small rodents and even birds:

I normally don’t like to photograph birds on wires, but this fellow posed so nicely:

 

Equipment: All animal photos were shot using a Nikon Z9 camera and Nikkor Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens. Landscape and architectural photos were shot either with a Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S lens or with an iPhone 11.

You can see more of my photos here.