Oriental Pied Hornbill foraging like a woodpecker

“Was at Pasir Ris Park again this evening, and saw this Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) having a feast of caterpillars (I don’t know for sure they are caterpillars, as they were all found under the bark, while I thought caterpillars fed on leaves…?). It spent at least half an hour on one tree, hopping from branch to branch, sometimes vertically up the trunk, inspecting every nook and cranny on the bark that might hold a tasty morsel… and it pretty much hit the jackpot on this particular tree, gulping down an average of one caterpillar(?) every minute!

“Here are two clips, one is a close-up showing it peeling off bark to get at the caterpillar (above), and the other one where it got two caterpillars on one branch within seconds of each other… (below).”

Lena Chow
Singapore
27th January 2011

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