Blyth's Hornbill - Papua New Guinea 2008

Blyth's Hornbill

Country: Papua New Guinea
Date of Issue: 25.01.2008
Series Name: Protected birds 6v
Condition: Mint
Face Value: 10 toya

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