
It’s a jungle out there. And for an ambitious young hornbill that dreams of finding a life partner and producing many offspring, there is much to learn. Yeap Chin Aik, who has devoted many years to understanding the secrets of hornbill success joined us for the first Habitalk of the year! This talk was live-streamed on 2 February 2021.
We hope that “How to be a Successful Hornbill” has left you with deeper admiration and empathy towards the hornbills, and a sense of anticipation to our upcoming Habitalks! Our sincere appreciation to Yeap Chin Aik, who brought us on a carpet ride to a whole new world of the hornbills and shared with us all some handy tips on how to be a successful hornbill in the jungle. Some of these are also good guides for humans: bring females food if you want them to like you, and always provide your children a diverse and nutrient rich diet! Thank you to everyone who participated in the session and kept the chat box flowing!
If you have missed the live session, here is the recording of the talk on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/fXiWH940Crc
To those of you who are keen to explore the world of hornbill ecology and conservation further, here is your reading list! Yeap has provided some links and publications on hornbills that will satisfy your curiosity.
PUBLICATIONS
Alexander, G.D., Houston, D.C. & Campbell, M. 1994. A possible acoustic function for the casque structure in hornbills (Aves: Bucerotidae). Journal of Zoology 233(1):57-67.
(https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1994.tb05262.x)
Pilai Poonswad, Alan Kemp & Morten Strange. 2013. Hornbills of the World: A Photographic Guide. Draco Publishing and Distribution Ltd, Singapore and Hornbill Research Foundation, Thailand.
Margaret F. Kinnaird & Timothy G. O’Brien. 2008. The Ecology and Conservation of Asian Hornbills: Farmers of the Forest. University Chicago Press.
Alan Kemp. 1995. The Hornbills: Bucerotiformes (Bird Families of the World). Oxford University Press.
Wells, D.R. 1999. The birds of the Thai-Malay peninsula. Volume One: Non-passerines. New York: Academic Press.
Poonswad, P., Tsuji, A. and Jirawatkavi, N. 2004. Estimation of nutrients delivered to nest inmates by four sympatric species of hornbills in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. Ornithological Science 3: 99-112.
Poonswad, P. 1995. Nest site characteristics of four sympatric species of hornbills in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. Ibis 137: 183-191.
McClure, H.E. 1966. Flowering, fruiting and animals in the canopy of a tropical rain forest. Malayan Forester 29 (3): 182-203.
Lambert, F.R. 1989. Fig-eating by birds in a Malaysian lowland rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 5: 401-412.
Lambert, F.R. and Collar, N.J. 2002. The future for Sundaic lowland forest birds: long-term effects of commercial logging and fragmentation. Forktail 18: 127-146.
Kitamura, S. 2011. Frugivory and seed dispersal by hornbills (Bucerotidae) in tropical forests. Acta Oecologica 37(6): 531-541.
Johns, A.D. 1987. The use of primary and selectively logged rainforest by Malaysian hornbills (Bucerotidae) and implications for their conservation. Biological Conservation 40: 179-190.
Jeyarajasingam, A. 2012. A Field Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore (Second Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Johns, A.D. 1982. Observations on nesting behaviour in the Rhinoceros hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros. Malayan Nature Journal 35: 173-177.
About the presenter

Yeap Chin Aik has been with Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) for 20 years. He is currently the Project Manager/Lead Investigator for the MNS Hornbill Conservation Project. He is also a Steering Committee Member of the IUCN SSG Hornbill Specialist Group and Chair of the Habitat Sub-Group of the Helmeted Hornbill Working Group. He is doing pursuing his PhD on hornbill ecology at University Putra Malaysia (UPM).


Yeap is the recipient of a 2021 THF Conservation Grant to advance hornbill conservation in the Belum Temengor forest landscape. You can read about his project here.