![OPH-bat [RobertChong]](https://besgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/OPH-bat-RobertChong-1.jpg)
Robert Chong’s image of an Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) with a bat clamped between its mandibles adds another item to the long list of foods it eats (above).
Hornbills are omnivorous, meaning that they eat both plant and animal foods. However, each species of hornbill has its own preference – eating either mainly fruits or mainly small animals.
In the case of the Oriental Pied Hornbill, it eats mainly fruits – from at least 35 species of plants, according to Kemp (2001). See also HERE.
It also takes small animals like insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, scorpions, molluscs, snails, earthworms, lizards, birds and their eggs, rats and even fishes and crabs.
Robert Chong
Taman TAR, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
15th January 2017
References:
Kemp, A.C., 2001. Family Bucerotidae (Hornbills). In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.), Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 6. Mousebirds to Hornbills. Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 436-523.
This post is a cooperative effort between Birds, Insects N Creatures Of Asia and BESG to bring the study of birds and their behavior through photography and videography to a wider audience.
