UPSC Express

About Hornbill Watch

• Hornbill Watch is an online platform created to record public sightings of hornbills from anywhere in India.
• Hornbill Watch was launched in 2014 by Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) and Conservation India (CI).
• It is a citizen science project to encourage birders, nature enthusiasts, and photographers to share information on hornbill presence, behaviour, and conservation-related issues.
• The primary objective of the initiative is generating baseline information using sight records.
• It is aimed at enabling long-term monitoring of hornbills in India.

Significance of the Initiative

• Hornbills are slow breeding group of birds.
• Thus, they are vulnerable to threats from anthropogenic pressures like hunting and deforestation.
• There is a significant knowledge gap about their distribution, population size, and adaptations to rapidly changing habitats.
• Furthe,r most research and conservation efforts are often focused on single or few species within protected areas.
• Besides, currently data collection efforts focusing Hornbills were restricted to experienced birders.
• Thus, a citizen initiative reaches out to a larger demographic with contributions coming in from photographers and lay people.

Report card of Hornbill Watch

• Between June 2014 and February 2017, Hornbill Watch received 938 records from 430 contributors across India.
• Most sightings were reported from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh.

Species Occurrence

• India is home to nine hornbill species.
• The Indian Grey Hornbill was the most reported species (249 records) followed by the Great Hornbill (218).
• The rare species include Austen’s Brown Hornbill (19), and the endangered Narcondam Hornbill (17).

Distribution

• Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu had the highest number of hornbill reports followed by the two north-eastern Indian states of Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Hornbills were reported from both inside (41%), and outside Protected Areas (59%).
• Further Hornbills were reported from 70 Pas with Namdapha and Manas are reported to have 4 hornbill species.

Indian Grey Hornbill

• The most reported Indian Grey Hornbill is widespread in India except in north-eastern India.
• Habitats range from savanna to urban landscapes.

The Great Indian Hornbill

• Found mostly in moist deciduous and evergreen forests of the Himalayan foothills and the Western Ghats.

Rare Species

• Narcondam hornbill
• It is an endangered species restricted to an area of 6 sq.km. of the Narcondam Island in the Andamans.

• The Vulnerable or near threatened species such as the rufous-necked hornbill, the Austen’s brown hornbill and the great hornbill were observed in several States in northeastern India.

About Hornbills

• Hornbills are the large birds found in the tropical forests of Asia and Africa.
• Most Asian species are primarily frugivores.
• Ecologically they play a critical role as seed dispersers.
• Thus they enable regeneration of important food plants and help maintain the diversity in tropical forests.