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Ficus subcordata and hornbill dispersal, Brunei

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A female Bushy-crested Hornbill carries away a large ripe fig fruit of Ficus subcordata to a nearby feeding perch where she can toss the fig in the air and swallow it whole.

Hornbills and canopy strangling figs have a very close relationship in the forests of Borneo.  Neither can survive without the other. Hornbills disperse  the largest figs and rely on them for a large proportion of their diet.

All photographs were taken from the Belalong Canopy Walkway, Temburong, Brunei by Hanyrol H. Ahmad Sah.

Ficus subcordata is a rare  strangling fig in Borneo but much more common in the seasonally dry climate of Java and the Indonesian islands east of Java. Ficus subcordata can be recognized by the large very plain (penninerved) leaves with NO obvious lateral veins and the very large figs.
This young male hornbill (with a red eye and short casque) is a local resident at the Belalong Canopy Walkway and a frequent  visitor with his older female partner when figs are fruiting at the Canopy Walkway, Temburong, Brunei.
Large fig crops attract Helmeted Hornbills to a fig feast at the Belalong Canopy Walkway. Of all the eight Bornean Hornbills the Helmeted Hornbill is the most specialised fig eater. Helmeted Hornbills only rarely eat other fruit.
A male Wreathed Hornbill flying over the Belalong Canopy Walkway.  Flocks  of Wreathed Hornbills are frequently seen in the area  but they only stop by when large crops of figs are available.
Black Hornbills are visitors to the Belalong Canopy Walkway but are more often seen along the Temburong  river  near the Ulu Ulu Resort. Black Hornbills are generalist feeders on insects and fruit but are happy to eat figs when available.
Along with Rhinoceros Hornbills, Bushy-crested Hornbills are the most common hornbills seen from the Belalong Canopy Walkway in Temburong, Brunei. They are generalist feeders often seen feeding on figs, most often in large noisy family groups.

 

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