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Hornbills: A Unique Old-World Family of Birds

May 14 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Dana and Bob Fox are excited to present this talk about the family of birds called Hornbills. Hornbills are an Old-World family of birds which first evolved in Africa over 60 million years ago and then one species radiated to Asia. Today half of the 64 species in the world live in Africa including two land-loving species and half in Asia where new species have evolved as far east as the Solomon Islands. As their name suggests, they have massive bills which are integrally attached to their skulls, and some have an additional special horny crown-like protrusion called a casque above their bills. In 1758, Linnaeus bestowed the name Buceros on the family, Latin for “having ox’s horns.” Another unique feature of most members of this family involves their nesting behavior. Females of almost all species make unique nests in tree cavities using their bills to wall themselves in with a plaster made of mud, droppings, chewed wood and bark and other detritus. They leave only a slit narrow enough to deter predators but sufficiently wide for the male to present food from the outside. The tree hornbills have become very important distributors of tropical fruit seeds. Come hear Dana and Bob’s tales of seeing these marvelous birds and see stunning pictures taken by Tim Layman, the intrepid, talented photographer.

Bio: Dana and Bob Fox both began birding in their youth. They have birded the US (list 750 species) and the world (6500 species) visiting 6 continents and over 40 countries. They have given numerous talks in New England about the birds of countries they have visited and on crows, loons and most recently hummingbirds.

Dana joined the South Shore Bird Club (SSBC) in 1951 when she was 12 years old. She has spent most summers in Tuftonboro, NH where she became fascinated by loons. The Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) presented her with their Spirit of the Loon Award. She is a past Secretary of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Past President of the Merrimack Valley Bird Club and frequent speaker. She has written articles on birding and crows in the American Birding Association’s Birding magazine and one on the Lawrence Crow Roost in Bird Observer. Dana coordinates the Tin Mountain Conservation Group’s Loon Monitoring Project for LPC and helps to train the LPC summer biologists on interacting with volunteers.

Bob, as a student at Harvard and living in Quincy, MA, was an early leader of the SSBC. With Allan Keith, a former member of the SSBC, he co-authored, Birds of New Hampshire, a 477 page book describing the status and distribution of birds known from NH (2013). He has published in Auk and Wilson Bulletin, written species accounts for the first MA Breeding Bird Atlas as well as articles in publications of both NH and Mass Audubon Societies. His MA species list is 451. In the past, Bob collected specimens for five museums including the Museum of Comparative Zoology. In addition, he helped found Manomet Bird Observatory, and is past President of South Shore Bird Club. He received the Goodhue-Elkins Award (2014) from NH Audubon for “contributions to the ornithology of NH.”