Twitchers - Birding & Beyond 🐦: The “Great” Indian Hornbill

Bharani Dharan, Bridgewood#

During my trip to Valparai, I was looking forward to sighting the Great Indian Hornbill in addition to some of the bird and animal species indigenous to the area. As if to dampen my spirits, I was told the season to sight this rare bird was already over. And to take it further, the first few days I tried all the usual haunts for this bird only to be left with disappointment. 

But what was so special about this bird? I explored…. Its wings? The colour palette of its plumage? The nesting habit? There were so many angles in which the bird could be celebrated. That is probably why it is the state bird for 2 of Indian states, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. My curiosity got the better of me and I decided I was not going to leave Valparai without focusing this rare beauty in my lens. Every morning, with dense mist and teeth-chattering cold, as it was December, I would lug my 3 kilo camera up hilly terrain and through thick foliage searching to sight the Hornbill. 

I had heard about its unique sound that is akin to a steam locomotive engine when its wings are in motion. Every whooshing sound I heard while I waited and scouted would give me a flicker of hope to finally sight this bird. But the first few days went by without luck.

I used to pass by a spot that was the favourite hangout of a group of Lion-tailed macaques. One morning, I even saw one of these primates almost giving me a kind of look that seemed to say, “Won’t you click me? Am I not a good enough subject for your photograph?”. Almost out of guilt, I zoomed in on his face and just when I was about to click, I saw him averting his eyes to look elsewhere. I laughed to myself, thinking, maybe he was searching for a hornbill too, and, maybe, he did not know that yet!

Lion Tailed Macaque

And then on my last day of the trip, I started much earlier than usual from my lodgings, choosing to forgo that hot cup of Valparai tea, to try to find this elusive bird. After trying 4 different locations and a good 2 hours later, when my mind was tired and my neck ached with the weight I was lugging, I heard it. The chug of a locomotive. A part of me said, “Too good to be true”. I heard it again and even wondered if I was starting to create that sound in my head as I’d been expecting that since my first day there. No, I really was hearing it. My senses alerted, I started my search and before I saw the bird I heard it yet again. And what a grand sound that was! It sounded like standing right next to a fast chugging train engine. And to think a bird’s wings were making those sweeping sounds. 

My ears accustomed to its movement, my eyes finally spotted it perched on the curved branch of a tree. Its head titled slightly upwards, the casque in bright beautiful yellow on top of its bill(beak), the curve of its neck in a lighter yellow and its almost graceful movements. The bird was letting me know by its slow movements that nothing can be rushed with it. Just like my wait to sight this beauty, my time to admire and click would also be slow and paced. 

The Great Indian Hornbill 

After clicking to my hearts content, the bird, as if sensing that I might be reaching my limits of happiness and satisfaction decided to take flight and show itself to me in all its glory. And there I stood mesmerised, looking at it uncurling its wings, flapping them to start the sound of a grand locomotive engine and flew above my head. Right then I knew, what made it “Great”. It was the majesty that it commanded - Majesty in its appearance, in the measured slowness of its movements and in the way it simply takes your breath away when it finally decides to grace your sight!

The Great Indian Hornbill ready to take a flight