Great Hornbill, FDC



 New Delhi Cancellation

Country: India
Year: 15.09.1983, FDC
Bird: Great Hornbill  - Buceros bicornis

Bombay Cancellation

Hornbills are used as symbols in many places due to their elegance and mesmerizing beauty. Here is a story how a Hornbill became the symbol of an organization.

A Great Hornbill called William was the model for the logo of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the name of their building. The logo is depicted in the stamp and cancellation of the FDC. The logo was created in 1933, the silver-jubilee year of the Society's founding.

William lived on the premises of the Society from 1894 until 1920.

William

William was born in May 1894 and presented to the Society three months later. He reached his full length (1.30 m) by the end of his third year. His diet consisted of fruit, (like plantains and wild figs) and also of live mice, scorpions, and plain raw meat, which he ate with relish. He apparently did not drink water, nor use it for bathing. William was known for catching tennis balls thrown at him from a distance of some 30 feet with his beak.

Sir Norman Kinnear described William as follows in the obituary of W S Millard

“Every visitor to the Society's room in Apollo Street will remember the great Indian Hornbill, better known as the "office canary" which lived in a cage behind Millard's chair in Phipson & Co.'s office for 26 years and died in 1920. It is said its death was caused by swallowing a piece of wire, but in the past "William" had swallowed a lighted cigar without ill effects and I for my part think that the loss of his old friend was the principal cause."

The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research.

Country: Botswana

Date Of Issue: 30.09.1966

Series Name: Overprint REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA on Bechuanaland 1961.01

Condition: Mint Hinged

Face Value: 7.5 Cents

Bird: African Grey Hornbill - Lophoceros nasutus

Collector's Corner:

I have started my hornbill stamp collection with this stamp.

African Grey Hornbill - Lophoceros nasutus

Status: Least Concerned

Habitat: It is a widespread and common resident breeder in much of Sub-Saharan Africa and into Arabia.

Threats: -

Diet: The African grey hornbill is omnivorous, taking insects, fruit and reptiles. It feeds mainly in trees.

Features: At 45 centimetres (18 in) in length, this is a large bird, although it is one of the smaller hornbills. It has mainly grey plumage, but the head, flight feathers and long tail are a darker shade. There is a white line down each side of the head and one on the back which is visible only in flight. The long curved bill is black and has a small casque and a creamy horizontal stripe.

Life Span: -

Breeding:  Monogamous

Facts:

Rhinoceros Hornbill - Buceros rhinoceros

Country: Sarawak
Date Of Issue: 01.10.1957
Series Name: Definitive
Condition: Mint
Face Value: 6 Cents
Bird: Rhinoceros Hornbill - Buceros rhinoceros

Collector's Corner:
I have a doubt about the issue year of this item because same stamps of different watermark has been issued in 1957 and 1964 with same denomination. I know nothing about watermarks. This stamp's watermark is the queen's crown.
This is the oldest hornbill stamp in my collection if it is issued in 1957. Also, I would like to thank Ebayer - ssphila for listing this item.

Rhinoceros Hornbill - Buceros rhinoceros

Status: Near Threatened

Habitat: Brunei Darussalam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore & Thailand.(lowland ever green forest)

Threats: Deforestation, logging and hunting for meat, its feathers and its casque, which can be carved into an ornament.

Diet: Fruit, insects, small reptiles, rodents and smaller birds.  

Features: They are also large hornbill  91–122 cm long and weighing 2–3 kg. Like most other hornbills, the male has orange or red eyes, and the female has whitish eyes. This bird has a mainly white beak and casque (the tip of the casque curves upward strikingly), but there are orange places here and there. It has white underparts, especially to the tail.
Life Span: 30 years
Breeding:  Monogamous

Facts:

The Rhinoceros Hornbill is the state bird of the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

For some Dayak people, it represents their war god, Singalang Burong.

Great Hornbill - Bangladesh 1991

Great Hornbill

Country: Bangladesh
Date of Issue: 19.06.1991
Series Name: Endangered Species
Condition: Mint
Face Value: 6 Taka
Bird Name: Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis  

Collectors Corner: This stamp is part 1991 endangered  species 4v set. This was a stamp i was looking for a long time. My sincere thanks to Mr Aritrim Basu, Kolkata for arranging this stamp for me.



Great Hornbill - Buceros bicornis
(Great Indian Hornbill, Great Pied Hornbill)

Status: Near Threatened
Habitat: Brunei Darussalam, Burma, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.(lowland ever green forest)
Threats: Hunting, deforestation & logging.
Diet: Fruits, figs, small mammals, birds, small reptiles and insects.
Features: The Great Hornbill is a large bird, 95-120 cm (38-47 in) long, with a 152 cm (60 in) wingspan and a weight of 2.15–4 kg (4.7-8.8 lbs). It is the heaviest, but not the longest, Asian hornbill. The most prominent feature of the hornbill is the bright yellow and black casque on top of its massive bill. The casque appears U-shaped when viewed from the front and the top is concave with two ridges along the sides that form points in the front, a reference to which is made in the Latin species epithet bicornis. The casque is hollow and serves no known purpose although they are believed to be the result of sexual selection. Male hornbills have been known to indulge in aerial casque butting, with birds striking each other in flight.
Breeding: Groups
Facts:
The Great Hornbill is the State bird of Chin state in Myanmar, and Kerala and Arunachal in India.
The beaks and head are used in charms and the flesh is believed to be medicinal. The squabs are considered a delicacy. Tribesmen in parts of northeastern India and Borneo use their feathers for head-dresses, and their skulls are often worn as decorations.
The hornbills is called "homrai" in Nepal and "banrao" both meaning "King of the forest".

Great Hornbill - Vietnam 1984

Great Hornbill

Country: Vietnam
Date of Issue: 1984
Series Name: Definitive
Condition: Used CTO
Face Value: 10 dong
Bird Name: Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis  

Collectors Corner:This stamp is a CTO. I would like to thank Mr Pramod Bhat, Navi Mumbai for arranging this stamp for me.



Great Hornbill - Buceros bicornis
(Great Indian Hornbill, Great Pied Hornbill)

Status: Near Threatened
Habitat: Brunei Darussalam, Burma, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.(lowland ever green forest)
Threats: Hunting, deforestation & logging.
Diet: Fruits, figs, small mammals, birds, small reptiles and insects.
Features: The Great Hornbill is a large bird, 95-120 cm (38-47 in) long, with a 152 cm (60 in) wingspan and a weight of 2.15–4 kg (4.7-8.8 lbs). It is the heaviest, but not the longest, Asian hornbill. The most prominent feature of the hornbill is the bright yellow and black casque on top of its massive bill. The casque appears U-shaped when viewed from the front and the top is concave with two ridges along the sides that form points in the front, a reference to which is made in the Latin species epithet bicornis. The casque is hollow and serves no known purpose although they are believed to be the result of sexual selection. Male hornbills have been known to indulge in aerial casque butting, with birds striking each other in flight.
Breeding: Groups
Facts:
The Great Hornbill is the State bird of Chin state in Myanmar, and Kerala and Arunachal in India.
The beaks and head are used in charms and the flesh is believed to be medicinal. The squabs are considered a delicacy. Tribesmen in parts of northeastern India and Borneo use their feathers for head-dresses, and their skulls are often worn as decorations.
The hornbills is called "homrai" in Nepal and "banrao" both meaning "King of the forest".

Blyth's Hornbill - British Solomon Islands

Blyth's Hornbill

Country: British Solomon Islands
Date of Issue: 01.03.1967   Surcharge on 1965
Series Name: Definitive
Condition: Mint
Face Value: 35 cents
Bird Name:  Blyth's Hornbill    Rhyticeros plicatus

Collectors Corner:This stamp is a surcharged issue of 1965 issue. There were two other surcharged issue of 1965 issue but has watermark sideways and upright. This issue has no watermark. I would like to thank Mr Pramod Bhat, Navi Mumbai for arranging this stamp for me.

Blyth's Hornbill  - Rhyticeros plicatus
(Papuan Hornbill)

Status: Lesat Concerned
Habitat: Lowland Rainforests - Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands
Threats: Deforestation and hunting.

Diet: Fruits, figs, insects and small animals.
 
Features:  Up to 91 cm in length, the adult male has a mainly black plumage with a golden or orange-buff coloured head, white throat and a white tail.
Its irises are reddish brown, surrounded by naked pale blue skin around the eye. The female is a smaller predominantly black bird with a white throat and tail. Both sexes have a very large, horn-coloured, bill and casque (a large display growth on the upper bill). Both sexes of young birds resemble the male. Adults have up to eight folds on the pale casque, depending on age, while young birds have none.
 
Facts:
It  is subject to hunting pressure by some tribal groups, with its feathers used in headdresses, its bill being valued as a personal adornment, and the lower mandible used as a spear point.
It is the only hornbill bird in Papua New Guinea

Yellow casqued Wattled Hornbill - Liberia 1953

Country: Liberia
Year: 18.11.1953
Condition: Used
Face value: 4cents
Series Name: Definitive
Bird: Yellow casqued Wattled Hornbill -  Ceratogymna elata

Collectors Corner: This is a definitive stamp which is along with a set of 6 other bird stamps. This my first triangular shape hornbill stamp. I would like to thank Mr. A Venkatachalam, Tamilnadu for providing me this 
stamp

Yellow casqued Watttled Hornbill – Ceratogymna elata

Status: Vulnerable

Habitat:  Widespread in West Africa from Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia , Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana , Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon.

Threats: Habitat loss and preying of eagles and leopards.

Diet: Fruits and insects

Features: The Yellow-casqued Wattled Hornbill is one of the largest birds of the West African forest, with adults weighing up to 2 kg. They live mainly in the forest canopy, feeding on the ground rarely. They live in small family groups containing at least one adult male and female, with one or two immature birds, though they sometimes gather in larger flocks to exploit a major food supply such as an ant or termite nest.

Facts:

Biologist Olivia Judson has remarked that "Yellow-casqued hornbills remind me of aging rock stars: their head feathers have that kind of wild look."

 The birds are occasionally preyed upon by Crowned Hawk-eagles, and they respond to the presence of an eagle by mobbing, i.e. approaching it and emitting calls.