The rare, critically endangered helmeted hornbill is especially picky when it comes to making a nest, requiring huge trees with a hollow cavity that they can nest in. Those trees happen to be the oldest and biggest in the forest—and are therefore highly valued by loggers. The birds are slow to reproduce, breeding once a year and raising only one chick. Because the mother and the chick live sealed inside the nest cavity for some months until the youngster is ready to fledge, they depend on the male to feed them. If the male is killed—shot by poachers for his casque, for example—the rest of the family will likely die.
Read the full story: “
Poached for its Horn, This Rare Bird Struggles to Survive” featured in the September 2018 issue of
National Geographic. This video was produced in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. National Geographic is partnering with the
National Audubon Society,
BirdLife International, and the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology to celebrate the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Watch for more
stories, books, and events throughout 2018, the
Year of the Bird.
Published August 28, 2018
