Animal
Rhinoceros hornbill
The rhinoceros hornbill is a big black and white bird with a huge yellow and red beak. On top of its beak is a curved horn. It lives in the rainforests of Southeast Asia and eats fruit.
The rhinoceros hornbill is a huge rainforest bird with black feathers, a black-banded white tail and an enormous yellow and orange-red beak topped by an upturned horn called a casque. It lives in tall forests of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo and eats mostly fruit, especially figs. It is vulnerable because its forests are being cut down and it is hunted.
Buceros rhinoceros is a large hornbill (family Bucerotidae) of the Sundaic lowlands: extreme southern peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, Kalimantan, Sumatra and Java. BirdLife International assessed it as Vulnerable (A3cd+4cd) for the IUCN Red List (assessed 15 September 2020, published 2020): largely restricted to extensive primary evergreen forest in a region of rapid deforestation, with hunting adding to the decline.
Photo: JJ Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the rhinoceros hornbill
The rhinoceros hornbill is a very big bird.
It has a huge yellow and red beak with a curved horn on top.
The rhinoceros hornbill is a very large bird. A male can be about a meter long and weigh up to 3.4 kilograms. Its head, back, chest and wings are black, its thighs are white, and its white tail has a wide black band.
Its most amazing feature is its beak: long, curved and yellow, with an orange-red horn on top that curves upward. This horn is called a casque.
Buceros rhinoceros is a large hornbill of the family Bucerotidae. The Dallas World Aquarium gives males 95 to 105 centimeters and 2.6 to 3.4 kilograms, and females 2 to 2.3 kilograms; it describes black head, back, breast and wings, white thighs and vent, a white tail with a broad black band, grayish-green feet, and a large yellow and orange-red bill and casque, slightly recurved, with the casque upturned at the base.
The World Land Trust says the casque is a hollow keratin structure, the same material as human fingernails, that acts as a resonating chamber for the bird's calls. The Dallas World Aquarium adds that the bill and casque are naturally creamy white and become colored when the bird rubs them against a gland beneath its tail, which gives off an orange-red oil.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.95 to 1.05 m
- Weight
- 2 to 3.4 kg
Tall forests of Southeast Asia
Rhinoceros hornbills live in big rainforests in Southeast Asia.
They stay high up in the tall trees.
Rhinoceros hornbills live in the warm, wet lowland forests of Southeast Asia: the far south of Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, and the islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo. They once lived in Singapore too, but are gone from there now.
They need large areas of old, tall forest, in the lowlands and on hills up to about 1,400 meters. When looking for food, they sometimes cross cleared areas and plantations.
The IUCN describes a range confined to the Sundaic lowlands: extreme southern peninsular Thailand (where the only suitable habitat is extensive primary forest in the Hala Bala area), Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, Kalimantan, Sumatra and Java, and Brunei; it is locally extinct in Singapore. In Malaysia its strongholds are large forest complexes and protected areas; it is absent from the smaller states such as Melaka and Penang.
It occurs in extensive primary lowland and hill forest, extending into tall secondary and swamp forest, up to 1,400 meters, and occasionally crosses disturbed areas and plantations while foraging. Densities are low even in suitable habitat: surveys at sites in Sarawak and Sabah found from 0.27 to 5.67 birds per square kilometer (IUCN).
Continent
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Lowland and hill rainforest of the far south of Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo (Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan), Sumatra and Java. Gone from Singapore. Only these western parts of Indonesia and the far south of Thailand are hornbill country.
Places: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, United States, Greece, Myanmar, Namibia and 4 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Figs and other fruit
Rhinoceros hornbills eat lots of fruit, especially figs.
Sometimes they eat bugs, lizards and frogs.
Rhinoceros hornbills eat mainly fruit. They love figs and often visit fig trees when the fruit is ripe. They also catch small animals: insects and other creepy-crawlies, lizards, tree frogs, and sometimes bird eggs.
When rhinoceros hornbills are feeding in a fig tree, some smaller kinds of hornbills keep away from that part of the tree, or wait nearby until the big hornbills leave.
The IUCN gives a diet mainly of fruits, plus arthropods, lizards, tree-frogs and bird eggs (Kemp and Boesman 2018); birds eat a variety of figs and take advantage of ripe fig trees. Smaller species such as the oriental pied, bushy-crested and black hornbills avoid feeding in the same section or level of a fruiting fig as rhinoceros hornbills, sometimes waiting nearby until they leave (IUCN).
The Dallas World Aquarium also lists figs as the preferred fruit, with arthropods, lizards, tree frogs and bird eggs.
Did you know?
Its wings go whoosh!
The Dallas World Aquarium says the hornbill's noisy wing-beats sound like an overloaded train.
Rounded wings make flight noisy, the 'whooshing' wing-beats likened to an overloaded locomotive (Dallas World Aquarium).
A horn that helps it call
The horn on its beak is hollow inside.
It helps the hornbill make its loud honking calls.
The casque on top of the hornbill's beak looks heavy, but it is hollow and light. The World Land Trust says it acts as a resonating chamber, making the hornbill's loud, honking calls even louder.
Males and females can be told apart by their eyes. A male has red eyes, and a female has white eyes ringed with red. Females are smaller and have smaller casques. When a rhinoceros hornbill flies, its wings make a loud whooshing sound.
The World Land Trust describes the casque as hollow and the Dallas World Aquarium as light-weight, and both say it amplifies the honking call; the Dallas World Aquarium notes a loud, harsh call often heard between pairs, a sharper note on take-off, and noisy 'whooshing' wing-beats.
The Dallas World Aquarium describes red eyes with black rims in males and white eyes with red rims in females, which are smaller, with smaller casques that lack the male's black base; the World Land Trust instead describes an orange or red eye ring in males and a white ring in females.
Sealed inside a tree
The mother hornbill nests inside a hole in a tall tree.
The parents close the hole with mud. The father feeds her through a tiny slit.
Rhinoceros hornbills have an amazing way of nesting. The female goes into a natural hole high in a tall tree, 9 to 15 meters up. Then the pair seals the entrance with mud, droppings and bits of food, leaving only a narrow slit.
The female stays inside to lay and warm 1 or 2 eggs, while the male passes food to her through the slit with his long beak. The wall protects the mother and eggs from predators. The eggs hatch after about 37 to 46 days.
The IUCN says the species breeds seasonally in natural tree cavities 9 to 15 meters up; nest trees include Koompassia malaccensis, breeding in Sarawak's Lanjak Entimau has been recorded from November to March, and in Sabah adults have successfully fledged a chick from an artificial nest (HUTAN 2019). The World Land Trust describes the pair sealing the entrance with mud, droppings and food remains, leaving a small hole through which the male passes regurgitated food.
The Dallas World Aquarium gives a clutch of one or two eggs, incubation of 37 to 46 days and fledging at 78 to 80 days, and notes that the female molts while in the nest. In North American zoos, birds first breed at about five years and some have lived well into their 30s (AZA studbook, via IUCN).
Pairs in the treetops
Rhinoceros hornbills usually go around in pairs.
They honk loudly to each other.
Rhinoceros hornbills are usually seen in pairs. The male often feeds the female, even outside the nesting season.
Sometimes young adults gather in bigger groups of up to 15 birds that roam the forest canopy together. The rhinoceros hornbill is the state bird of Sarawak, in Malaysia.
The IUCN says birds are usually seen in pairs, but in Malaysia's Belum-Temengor Forest Complex groups of up to 15, mostly young adults, have been seen roaming the canopy together. The Dallas World Aquarium notes pairs or small flocks outside the breeding season, males often feeding females even then, and that the birds are fairly easy to find because of their size, habits and calls.
The IUCN lists the species as not a migrant, with a generation length of 14 years. The World Land Trust notes that it is the state bird of Sarawak.
Did you know?
Hornbills color their own beaks.
A rhinoceros hornbill's beak is naturally creamy white; it turns yellow and red when the bird rubs on orange-red oil from a gland near its tail.
Bill and casque are cosmetically colored with orange-red oil from a gland beneath the tail (Dallas World Aquarium).
Vulnerable: losing old forest
There are fewer rhinoceros hornbills than before.
People are cutting down their forests. Parks help keep them safe.
The rhinoceros hornbill is listed as vulnerable. Logging and farming have cleared huge areas of lowland forest in its range, and the hornbill lives mainly in large areas of old forest. It is also hunted and traded.
It lives in several national parks, such as Taman Negara in Malaysia and Gunung Leuser in Sumatra, and international trade in it is controlled. Experts want to protect more lowland forest and limit hunting.
BirdLife International assessed Buceros rhinoceros as Vulnerable (A3cd+4cd) for the IUCN Red List (assessed 15 September 2020, published 2020): the population is unquantified and widespread but at low densities, and a large reduction is suspected over the next three generations. An analysis of 2000 to 2012 estimated forest loss within its range at 43.8% across three generations (Tracewski et al. 2016), from commercial and illegal logging and agriculture.
Hunting and trade add to the decline, and birds may also be taken by hunters seeking helmeted hornbills. It is on CITES Appendix II and occurs in protected areas including Taman Negara, Gunung Leuser, Bukit Barisan Selatan, Way Kambas and Danum Valley. Proposed actions: monitoring, protecting remaining extensive lowland forest, and restricting hunting (IUCN).
IUCN Red List
How is the rhinoceros hornbill doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable (this animal)
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Vulnerable
At high risk of disappearing from the wild.
Amazing facts
-
A hornbill's horn is hollow.
The rhinoceros hornbill's casque is hollow and light, and it makes the bird's calls louder.
The casque is a hollow keratin resonating chamber that amplifies calls (World Land Trust).
-
Hornbills color their own beaks.
A rhinoceros hornbill's beak is naturally creamy white; it turns yellow and red when the bird rubs on orange-red oil from a gland near its tail.
Bill and casque are cosmetically colored with orange-red oil from a gland beneath the tail (Dallas World Aquarium).
-
The mother hornbill is walled inside her nest.
A rhinoceros hornbill pair seals the nest hole with mud, and the male feeds the female through a narrow slit.
Entrance sealed with mud, droppings and food remains; the male passes regurgitated food through a small hole (World Land Trust).
-
Its wings go whoosh!
The Dallas World Aquarium says the hornbill's noisy wing-beats sound like an overloaded train.
Rounded wings make flight noisy, the 'whooshing' wing-beats likened to an overloaded locomotive (Dallas World Aquarium).
Words to know
- casque
- a hard, helmet-like structure on top of a hornbill's beak
- canopy
- the top layer of a forest, formed by the treetops
- lowland
- low, flat land, not far above the level of the sea
- keratin
- the tough material that makes up hair, fingernails, beaks and horns
- deforestation
- cutting down forests and not letting them grow back
- vulnerable
- at high risk of dying out in the wild if nothing changes
Discovery challenge
-
What is on top of the hornbill's beak?
What is the curved structure on top of a rhinoceros hornbill's beak called?
What is the name of the hollow structure on the rhinoceros hornbill's bill?
- A casque
- A crest
- A comb
Show the answer
A casque
A casque!
A casque: a hollow, upturned horn that makes its calls louder.
The casque, a hollow keratin resonating chamber (World Land Trust).
-
What does a rhinoceros hornbill eat most?
What makes up most of a rhinoceros hornbill's food?
What is the main component of its diet?
- Fruit, especially figs
- Fish
- Grass
Show the answer
Fruit, especially figs
Fruit!
Mostly fruit, especially figs, plus small animals.
Mainly fruits, especially figs; also arthropods, lizards, tree-frogs and bird eggs (IUCN).
-
How does the father feed the mother in the nest?
How does the male feed the female while she is in the nest?
How is the nesting female provisioned?
- Through a narrow slit in the sealed entrance
- She leaves the nest to eat every hour
- She eats leaves inside the tree
Show the answer
Through a narrow slit in the sealed entrance
Through a tiny slit!
The entrance is sealed with mud, and the male passes food through a narrow slit.
The male passes regurgitated food through a small hole in the sealed entrance (World Land Trust).
-
Where do rhinoceros hornbills live?
In which part of the world do rhinoceros hornbills live?
Which region is the rhinoceros hornbill confined to?
- Southeast Asian rainforests
- African deserts
- Arctic tundra
Show the answer
Southeast Asian rainforests
In Southeast Asia!
The rainforests of southern Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Sumatra, Java and Borneo.
The Sundaic lowlands (IUCN).
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia, just north of the Equator. One part is on the Malay Peninsula and the other is on the island of Borneo. It has rainforests, huge caves, Mount Kinabalu and the city of Kuala Lumpur, with about 34.4 million people (2026).
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Watch
Country
Indonesia
Indonesia is a country of about 17,500 islands in Southeast Asia, spread across the Equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It has more than 100 active volcanoes, rainforests full of wildlife, and about 286 million people (2025).
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Watch
Country
Brunei
Brunei is a small country on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Most of it is covered in rainforest, where proboscis monkeys and sun bears live. Its capital has a famous water village built on stilts, and about 459,000 people lived in Brunei in 2025.
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Watch
Country
Thailand
Thailand is a tropical country in the middle of mainland Southeast Asia, with forested mountains in the north, rice fields on its central plains and a long, narrow peninsula in the south. Its capital is Bangkok, and about 65.8 million people were on its civil register at the end of 2025.
Explore next
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Animal
Great hornbill
The great hornbill is a very large bird of Asia's forests, with a long tail, broad black-and-white wings and an enormous curved yellow bill topped by a helmet called a casque. It eats mostly figs, and the female seals herself inside a tree hole to raise her chick.
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Southern ground hornbill
The southern ground hornbill is a huge black bird with bright red bare skin on its face and throat and a long, curved black beak. It lives in woodland and savanna in eastern and southern Africa, where family groups walk the ground hunting insects, frogs, snakes and other small animals. It is listed as vulnerable because of poisoning, loss of nest trees and other dangers from people.
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Bornean orangutan
The Bornean orangutan is a shaggy red great ape that spends almost all its life in the treetops of Borneo's rainforests. It eats mostly ripe fruit, builds a new leafy bed every night, and lives a quieter, more solitary life than other great apes.
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Country
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia, just north of the Equator. One part is on the Malay Peninsula and the other is on the island of Borneo. It has rainforests, huge caves, Mount Kinabalu and the city of Kuala Lumpur, with about 34.4 million people (2026).
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Watch
Country
Indonesia
Indonesia is a country of about 17,500 islands in Southeast Asia, spread across the Equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It has more than 100 active volcanoes, rainforests full of wildlife, and about 286 million people (2025).
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Watch
Country
Brunei
Brunei is a small country on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Most of it is covered in rainforest, where proboscis monkeys and sun bears live. Its capital has a famous water village built on stilts, and about 459,000 people lived in Brunei in 2025.
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Watch
Country
Thailand
Thailand is a tropical country in the middle of mainland Southeast Asia, with forested mountains in the north, rice fields on its central plains and a long, narrow peninsula in the south. Its capital is Bangkok, and about 65.8 million people were on its civil register at the end of 2025.
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Watch
Animal
Wallace's flying frog
Wallace's flying frog is a big, bright green frog of the rainforests of Southeast Asia. Its fingers and toes are joined by wide webs of skin, partly black, and it uses them to glide from tree to tree. It lives high in the trees and comes down only to breed, laying its eggs in a foam nest that hangs over a rain pool.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo where rhinoceros hornbills live.
- Describe the casque and how it helps the hornbill call.
- Explain how a hornbill pair seals the female inside the nest.
- Explain why cutting down old lowland forest threatens hornbills.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might sealing the nest help keep the mother and eggs safe?
- What would happen to the female and chicks if the male could not bring food?
- Why might a big bird need big, old trees to nest in?
Try at home or in class
- Echo chamber: with a grown-up, hum into an empty paper towel tube and then without it, and talk about how a hollow casque can make a call louder.
- Window feeding: make a small slit in a cardboard box and practice passing a piece of fruit through it with tongs, like a male hornbill feeding the female.
Key vocabulary: casque, canopy, lowland, keratin, deforestation, vulnerable
Where these facts come from
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- Buceros rhinoceros (BirdLife International, assessed 15 September 2020, published 2020) , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Buceros rhinoceros: range, population, ecology, threats and conservation text , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Buceros rhinoceros: IUCN Red List global assessment record (BirdLife International 2020), IUCN checklist on GBIF , GBIF
- Rhinoceros hornbill , The Dallas World Aquarium
- Rhinoceros Hornbill , World Land Trust
- File:Rhinoceros Hornbill 0A2A9146.jpg (9 April 2023, JJ Harrison) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.