Helmeted hornbill | |
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immature male at the Jurong Bird Park. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Bucerotiformes |
Family: | Bucerotidae |
Genus: | Rhinoplax Gloger, 1841 |
Species: | R. vigil
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Binomial name | |
Rhinoplax vigil (Pennant, 1781)
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Synonyms | |
Buceros vigil Forster, 1781 |
The helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) is a very large bird in the hornbill family. It is found on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Thailand and Myanmar. The casque (helmetlike structure on the head) accounts for some 11% of its 3 kg weight. Unlike any other hornbill, the casque is almost solid, and is used in head-to-head combat among males.[3] It is a belief among the Punan Bah that a large helmeted hornbill guards the river between life and death.[4]