Hornbills are being targeted during their breeding season in Bangladesh, with rescue records over the last several years showing a concentration of cases between May and August, when the forest dwellers are nesting, breeding and raising chicks. Analyzing rescue data from the Forest Department and Bangladesh Police, Mongabay found at least 26 birds, including 14 great hornbills (Buceros bicornis) and 12 oriental pied hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris), were rescued in 12 separate cases between May and August from 2023 to 2026. (The reporter collected the data manually; hence we have no links) Eight of these cases were recorded in the southeastern part of the country, where hornbill habitats are located. A 2018 Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Bangladesh report also found that hornbills were collected in the Chattogram Hill Tracts during the nesting season. According to a 2021 study published in Scientific Reports, this species’ breeding season runs from March to mid-August. “The risk to hornbills during this period is closely tied to their unique breeding behavior. The female seals herself inside a tree cavity with mud or vegetation and cannot leave the nest during the breeding period. The male stays outside and repeatedly brings food to the female, and later to the chicks, inside the cavity. This makes the nest easier for hunters to trace, while reaching the cavity gives them access to both the female and the chicks,” said hornbill researcher Humayra Mahmud, an assistant professor of zoology at Noakhali Science and Technology University. A male oriental pied hornbill at…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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