Raising funds for the Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme

This is a fundraiser to raise money for the Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme (HNAP), which is run by the Bengaluru-based Nature Conservation Foundation.

This programme is based in and out of the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Western Arunachal Pradesh. This programme involves the Nyishi people, who live around the reserve. The Nyishis who used to hunt hornbills, have now become their protectors, protecting and monitoring their nests, and collecting valuable data on hornbill nesting. This data is then used by NCF's field biologists to estimate the health of hornbill populations in the area.

Through the programme, around 40 hornbill nests are monitored and over 138 hornbill chicks of three hornbill species (Great hornbill, Wreathed hornbill, Oriental Pied hornbill) have fledged successfully. They have been doing this since 2012 when the programme was first initiated.

Under HNAP, each hornbill nest has 3 sets of parents, the biological parents which are the hornbills themselves, the nest protectors and the urban volunteers. While the hornbills help raise the chicks, the nest protectors protect the nest while the urban volunteers provide funding and financial support. It costs Rs.6000 to adopt a nest. The funds raised go towards the salaries of the nest protectors and the costs of the programme. You can read more about the program here.

Through this fundraiser I am attempting to raise money for four nests which is Rs. 24000. This money will go towards the protection of the nests through the entire 2020 nesting season.

A little bit more about the hornbills:

Hornbills are truly fascinating creatures. Be it the long curved beak, the long tail, the huge wings which literally break the forest's silence with its loud whooshing noise, and the casque protruding from the upper surface of the bill, they are intriguing in all aspects. Their interesting and almost dinosaurian appearance apart, hornbills play a pivotal ecological role in the forests where they live. Being the largest avian frugivores (fruit eaters), in their forests, they are key seed dispersers. They disperse the seeds of over a hundred species of trees, both fig and non fig types, helping in forest regeneration. Hence they are aptly called the "farmers of the forest".

Their nesting behaviour is unique amongst birds. The pair first selects a suitable nesting tree after courtship and mating and find a hole (which is made by a woodpecker or another cavity nesting birds or created by a fallen branch). The female then enters and seals the hole with her own droppings to prevent predators from entering. Then she lays a single egg which she incubates for around 30-40 days. During this time she is literally incarcerated in her nest hole (a behaviour common to all hornbills, hence their nest is popularly called the prison!) while the male feeds her with fruits. After this time the chick hatches and the process of feeding continues until the chick fledges. Hornbills are truly dedicated parents.

Typically each nesting season produces only one chick per pair, making hornbills slow breeders. Which is why protection of their nesting trees is essential for their survival.

Here's a quick update