Hornbills, fantastic birds of the subtropics, are well known for their striking bills that seem almost too cumbersome for an elegant avian body. To combat this, they have strong neck musculature and fused vertebrae.

The call of the helmeted hornbill is often described as a cackling laughter.

There are just over 50 species of hornbill globally (with some potential cryptic species yet to be confirmed), and the range quite vastly in size and colours. They are often associated with dense, healthy forest ecosystems.

One of the largest hornbills is the helmeted hornbill. As its name suggests, it has a hefty casque upon its bill which is made of ‘hornbill ivory’, or ‘golden jade’. What sets its casque apart from other members of the hornbill family is that this casque is a solid keratin, instead of the usual spongy consistency. Naturally, the hornbill ivory is a golden yellow, but the preen gland of the bird stains it a bright red – only adding to its appeal, unfortunately. The casque makes up approximately 11% of the bird’s total bodyweight.

The purpose of the casque for the birds is competition. Males will perform feats of combat known as aerial jousting to contend for territory. Fruit such as figs are coveted by R. vigil, so they will fight over this resource as well. Additionally, it is a useful tool for searching for food in wood and bark.

The combined pressures of habitat loss and hunting for ivory has left the helmeted hornbill critically endangered. It is already extinct in Singapore, with low-density populations remaining in primary lowland forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, south Myanmar and south Thailand. It has a specialist diet and particular nest requirements, which emphasises the importance of preserving original forest that supports this species.

R. vigil only produces one chick per year, raised in a sealed tree trunk.

According to birdlife.org, a casque of R. vigil can be worth $1000 on the Chinese black market, and villagers are paid handsomely for a hornbill’s head. More than 2,500 casques have been seized globally spanning at least 59 incidents between 2010 and 2017. The ivory is used primarily for decorative carvings. BirdLife has been working passionately to devise strategies to protect this species, firstly by coordinating the Helmeted Hornbill Working Group, and by formulating a 10-year conservation strategy and action plan (from 2018 to 2027). It aims to:

• Eliminate the demand for jade ivory products across all consumer countries
• Enforce national and international policy and legislation
• Identify and protect/manage population strongholds
• Encourage and empower local communities to protect and conserve populations, promoting citizen science

It would be tragic to lose such a unique species, which also contribute to overall forest health. Tropical birds such as these are often indicators of pristine forest habitats as a result of their life history requirements, and so this deters locals from disturbing the area through means such as logging.