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Ficus punctata: Hornbills and Nutmegs on Bukit Patoi, Brunei

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A curious young Bushy Crested Hornbill Anorrhinus galeritus watches an adult male  Rhinoceros Hornbill Buceros rhinoceros feeding on a ripe Ficus punctata fruit on Bukit Patoi, Temburong, Brunei.

All photos by Arlene Walshe taken on 02 September 2018.

The young Bushy Crested Hornbill has obviously only very recently left the nest hole and was itself being watched over by a nearby adult female Bushy Crested Hornbill.
This adult male Rhinoceros Hornbill is  about to attack the dark purple ripe Ficus punctata fruit  at the top far left of this photo.
The yellow circle shows where the ripe  Ficus punctata fig fruit has been attacked by the Rhinoceros Hornbill.

According to the analysis  presented here, Ficus punctata: male and female differences ,this liana  on Bukit Patoi is a female Ficus punctata based on the  colour, size and shape of the fig fruit.

This Ficus puncta  liana on Bukit Patoi  fruits almost constantly with the figs ripening in sequence over a period of several months. The local gibbon family on Bukit Patoi are the main dispersers whilst the local hornbills are usually uninterested.

Rhinoceros Hornbills typically feed on oily fruit which can be swallowed whole such as this ripe nutmeg which was fruiting on Bukit Patoi on the same day

Typical nutmeg seed (black) partially covered by an oily red aril (mace).  Hornbills swallow the black seed and mace together later regurgitating the black seed.
There are approximately 115 species of nutmegs found in Bornean forests the majority of which are hornbill dispersed.  The photo above shows a typical hornbill dispersed nutmeg fruit. The fruit splits open (dehisces) whilst on the tree exposing the bright red aril surrounding  the smooth seed The seed and aril are swallowed whole. The aril is digested whilst the the seed is regurgitated. Given the choice  most hornbills prefer nutmegs to figs, however figs provide an essential back up food supply  to hornbills during the lean season when nothing else is fruiting.

 

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