Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill. (අළු කෑදැත්තා)

 

Ocyceros gingalensis

Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill is an Endemic bird to Sri Lanka. It is Large bird which has a large down curved orangish-yellow bill. It doesn’t have a casque on the upper mandible of the bill. Over all colour of this bird is grey. It has a brown crest on the crown the crest is extended towards the nape. The throat, breast and belly of this bird is white. The upper tail feather is grey with a white tip and the lower feathers are white. In flight this bird is visible as white underparts with grey feathers. The body form of the male and female is the same. But the Male has a completely orangish-yellow bill while the female has a black bill with a pale-yellow patch on the upper mandible of the bill. Can be seen in pairs or small family groups of parents and their chicks. Very loud call.

Mostly these birds’ nest from April to August. They nest in tree holes made at some height of large trees. After finding a tree hole the female enters to the tree hole to lay eggs. Then the opening of the tree hole is sealed by the male using mud leaving a small gap to enter the bill for feeding. Throughout the incubation period the male brings different types of fruits to feed the female. The male takes one fruit at a time from the mouth by a shake of the head and feed it to the female. After the eggs hatch female comes out breaking the mud wall and broth male and female feeds the chicks. When feeding the chicks mostly small insects and small lizards are fed.   

This bird can be seen mostly in the Dry Zone and also can be seen in the Wet Zone up to the Mid Hills.

Female

Female

Male