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At present I am retired and spending my time mostly on fishing and photography. I bought my first SLR way back in 1982. It was a Minolta XG1. My last film camera was the Maxxum 9000. When the fantastic Sony Alpha 100 was launched, I changed over to the digital system. My Alpha 580 was acquired followed closely by my Alpha 77.

My main interest in photography is lifestyles, sports, sceneries, nature, birds and macro shots. Lately, I have spend more time on bird and nature shooting. As a regular contributer to some fishing magazines, I shoot quite a lot of photographs of anglers too....hence my photography blog is named 'SHOOT THE HOOKER'.



Having grown up near the confluence of two, the Kangsar and the Perak Rivers, it is not surprising that one of my main interest is fishing. My younger days were spent swimming and fishing.... with a bamboo pole, line and small hooks.Now while fishing, my friends and I do take a lot of photographs of anglers in action. The anglers must be careful so as not to accidentally hook on to a photographer. So I think as a reminder, I would like to name my fishing blog as 'HOOK THE SHOOTER'.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

ORIENTAL PIED-HORNBILL

 

A male Oriental pied-hornbill sitting on a large rain tree near some housing estate.

   The Oriental pied-hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) is a rather common hornbill in Malaysia. It can be easily seen around jungle fringes near urban dwellings.




Food consisting of figs, fruits, small reptiles and birds are their main diets. Here a male regurgitated a fig and gently holds it in its bill.


   They like large trees where they build nest in holes in the tree branches. The male will bring mud cakes to the female who will then seal herself inside to lay her eggs and incubate them. Food in the form of figs, fruits, small insects, reptiles and small birds are brought back by the male to feed its mate.


A male hornbill gently feed its mate as she incubates her eggs in her sealed nest.


   I have seen these hornbills built their nests in the bird houses built for owls around the rice fields.

A few fruits that are part of the hornbill diet.


Here a pair of hornbills has colonised an owl shelter for their nests.