Bar-pouched wreathed Hornbill (Aceros undulatus)

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Other common names in use include: Bar-throated wreathed hornbill, Wreathed hornbill, and Northern waved hornbill.

Kemp (1995) summarizes the confusion in taxonomy of Aceros subruficollis (Plain-pouched wreathed hornbill) which closely resembles the sympatric, A. undulatus. From 1953 to about 1969, A. subruficollis was united with A. undulatus. This could have resulted in some misidentification of these two species in older records.

Range, habitat, and status

Due to similarity in appearance to Aceros subruficollis, there is some confusion about the range of these two species. In the western part of the two ranges, there is overlap in eastern India southeast through Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, and possibly Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra. The range ofA. undulatus continues east to Java, Bali, and Borneo. This species prefers primary evergreen forest up to 1675m. It is widespread but generally uncommon and as with the other birds in this genus, nomadism makes assessment of density difficult. Kemp (1995) suggests that the results of population studies obtained by surveying only communal day and night roosts may lead to exaggerated abundance figures.

Captive propagation

The first recorded successful hatching of this species was at the New York Zoological Park in 1977 (Bell and Bruning 1978). In the past several years there has been breeding success with pairs currently at Atlanta Zoo, Central Florida Zoological Park, and Oklahoma Zoo. The female from the Atlanta pair was hatched in captivity. This represents one of the few F1 Aceros birds that have bred successfully.

Irena Pavlin of Ljublana Zoo in Slovenia has published in 1999 the first edition regional European studbook for this species.