The 'sealed cavity' nesting by Oriental Pied Hornbills at Taiping Lake Gardens. part 2

What is delivered to the nest? It was interesting to see what was delivered to the nest occupants. Fruit dominated (as this species are mostly frugivores),

insects both large and small),

snails (in the shell,

lizards (also both large and small) and other bird species,

and even soil (this is not totally unusual as soil is ingested for various minerals and to sooth upset stomachs).

The fruit included peeled rambutans which begged the question as to whether the male was peeling the fruit or local folk was leaving prepared fruit for them.

What are the feeding numbers? My observations and stats from scientific data show that the male hornbill will visit the nest 30 to 50 times per day. If this is multiplied by the number of days the female and chicks are sealed in the nest cavity it works out to an impressive 2700 to 4500 visits to the nest in the breeding cycle.

Liberation day There is a certain amount of luck or serendipity in being able to record the end of the nesting cycle. My observations of the nesting cycle at Taiping indicated the nest preparation occurred in the second half of December and the fledging occurred in the second half of March the following year. It had been reported to me in March 2026 that three of the seven nests around the lakes in Taiping had fledged. I went to the carpark nest and was surprised to see the male flying in to the nest on a feeding mission. The female was being fed.

Within a short time she wriggled out of the nest and flew to an adjacent tree.

She looked somewhat worse for wear and sat for the next few hours seemingly happy to be in the sun and fresh air after three months ‘locked up’. The male then came back and fed one of the chicks.

In a short time chick number 1 wriggled out of the nest cavity

and went to a nearby tree.

The male returned to the nest and supervised the fledging of chick number 2

. The chick struggled to gain altitude and sat for some time on the motorbikes in the carpark

. It then flew across a road and perched in front of an office window. A cat skulked around the corner and prepared to attack the uncertain chick. I prepared to intervene but the male hornbill descended and repelled the feline. The male then stayed with the chick until it flew higher into a tree

. Back at the nest another head appeared as chick number three revealed itself. The male came to the nest and tried to coax the final chick to fledge. The male called to it, encouraged it and finally fed it.

It should be remembered that this chick around a week younger than chick number 1. The last chick finally fledged around 5pm.

The male checked the nest soon after and was rather perplexed as to where the chick had gone. It was higher up in the trees. The female was a rather passive viewer but she had really served her time. The male was impressive in being so attentive to all his other family members and aptly demonstrated the intelligence of the species.

About the Rain trees Taiping Lake Garden was established during the British rule as Malaysia’s first public garden in 1880. Measuring 64 hectares and located near Bukit Larut it was a mining ground. The park was the idea of Robert Walker and developed by Charles Reade (1880-1933). The original garden was fenced to keep the bulls out. There were 10 scenic lakes and ponds and 130 trees, consisting of 10 species were planted. The dominant species was Samanaea saman. Native to tropical America these specimens can grow to 25 metres with a large canopy, almost as big as the tree is tall. The leaflets on these trees close up just before rain as a natural response to falling pressure and incoming moisture…… hence the name of Rain trees. They also fold up in the early evening and are known as Pukul Lima in Malay (five o’clock). The tree is also known as Cow Tamarind, Hujan-hujan. East Indian Walnut and Monkey Pod. These heritage trees in the Lake Gardens are now over 130 years old.