Rhyticeros everetti
SUBFAMILY
Bucerotinae
TAXONOMY
Rhyticeros everetti Rothschild, 1897, Sumba. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Sumba Island hornbill, Sumba wreathed hornbill, Everett's hornbill; French: Calao de Sumba; German: Sumbahornvogel; Spanish: Cálao de la Sumba.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
21.7 in (55 cm); No weights available. Small and black with long, all-black tail. Head and neck rufous with blue throat skin, ridged casque, and pale yellow bill.
DISTRIBUTION
Restricted to the Indonesian island of Sumba.
HABITAT
Patches of evergreen, monsoon, and gallery forests.
BEHAVIOR
Non-territorial but may be resident within certain forest patches.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Highly frugivorous but no detailed studies available. Seeds of 16 fruit species found under one nest tree; most observations of feeding birds in strangling figs.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Little known regarding nesting cycle.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Classified as Vulnerable and listed on CITES Appendix II. Population estimated at 4,000 individuals.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Meat is eaten to relieve rheumatism and asthma. Species becoming increasingly popular in pet trade.
