Hydrocorax mindanensis. [Mindanao Flat-Casque Hornbill]

Description

original-colour lithograph, with accompanying text. #2/5. EXTREMELY RARE – this is the first time in 30 years we have this for sale!

Stunning Hornbill lithograph from Daniel Giraud Elliot’s A Monograph of the Bucerotidae, or Family of the Hornbills. Considered the first comprehensive study of the hornbill family, covering their distribution across Africa and Asia as well as their unusual nesting behaviour, including the sealing of the female within a tree cavity during incubation. Illustrated by John Gerrard Keulemans and printed by M. & N. Hanhart, the work is noted for its finely detailed and highly regarded ornithological plates. Modern ornithological taxonomy generally regards the mindanensis as a subspecies of the Rufous Hornbill (Buceros hydrocorax), although some authorities have at times treated it as a distinct species. Endemic to the southern Philippines, the mindanensis form occurs on Mindanao, Basilan, Dinagat, Siargao, and several adjacent islands, inhabiting primary and secondary tropical forests. Like other Philippine hornbills, it plays an important ecological role as a forest seed disperser. The bird remains extant but is considered vulnerable to habitat loss, deforestation, and hunting pressure throughout its restricted island range.