Austen’s Brown Hornbill Anorrhinus austeni occurs India to Vietnam and Cambodia, in China only in southeast Tibet and southern Yunnan (Xishuangbanna). HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Deciduous and evergreen forests, to 1800 m (5,910 ft.). Eats fruit, invertebrates, and small vertebrates. Cooperative breeder, with dominant breeding pair assisted by other adults. Forms noisy flocks. ID Male upperparts brown, with tail and primaries tipped white. Cheeks and throat white. Belly rufous. Blue orbital skin, red in juvenile; iris brown. Female has uniform rufous underparts. Bill pale, yellowish. Feet black. VOICE Piercing screams and yelps can sound eerily human. — Craig Brelsford
THE HORNBILLS OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com covers all five members of the family Bucerotidae that occur in China. Click any link:
Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis
Oriental Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros albirostris
Austen’s Brown Hornbill Anorrhinus austeni
Rufous-necked Hornbill Aceros nipalensis
Wreathed Hornbill Rhyticeros undulatus
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
