biology

White-crowned hornbill

White-crowned hornbill is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand White-crowned hornbill rather than just read about it. In short: The white-crowned hornbill (Berenicornis comatus), also known as the long-crested hornbill or white-crested hornbill (leading to easy confusion with the African white-crested hornbill), is a species of hornbill. Taxonomy It is monotypic within the genus Berenicornis, although rarely the white-crested hornbill is also included in this genus, and the white-crowned hornbill is sometimes placed in genus Aceros instead.

Key takeaways

White-crowned hornbill belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect White-crowned hornbill to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of White-crowned hornbill from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Taxonomy It is monotypic within the genus Berenicornis, although rarely the white-crested hornbill is also included in this genus, and the white-crowned hornbill is sometimes placed in genus Aceros instead.

Description

Berenicornis comatus is a large hornbill, reaching a length of 83–102 cm (33–40 in) and a weight of 1.3–1.5 kg (2.9–3.3 lb). Females are smaller than males. The plumage is black and white. The head, neck, breast and tail are white, while the remaining plumage is black. It has white crown feathers erected in a crest (hence the common name). Between the eye and the bill and on the throat there is bare dark blue skin. The bill is mainly black, with a yellowish base. Like most hornbills, it has a blackish casque on the top of its bill. The female has a black neck and underparts.

Diet These birds are territorial and feed on various fruits, lizards, arthropods and larvae.

Distribution This species is found in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo.

Habitat This bird inhabits rainforests at low and medium altitudes, usually at an elevation below 900 meters. It may also be found on fruit, oil-palm and rubber plantations. It is threatened by habitat destruction.

Behavior The female lays two white eggs in a tree hole, then seals herself in by blocking the entrance to the nest with droppings, debris and mud. The male, and other adults and young forming a cooperative group, feed the breeding female and the chicks through a narrow hole. The female breaks the "wall" and leaves the nest when the chicks are able to fly.

Threats The forest habitat that this bird depends on has been heavily declining in recent years. Due to this, the white-crowned hornbill was uplisted from near threatened to endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2018.

References

External links Biolib World Bird Names Archived 2013-12-05 at the Wayback Machine Bucerotiformes on Zoonomen Tree of Life ITIS

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with White-crowned hornbill

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what White-crowned hornbill claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to White-crowned hornbill before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about White-crowned hornbill ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of White-crowned hornbill

In research: White-crowned hornbill appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses White-crowned hornbill in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: White-crowned hornbill is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Birds described in 1822, Birds of Malesia, Bucerotiformes stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for White-crowned hornbill outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study White-crowned hornbill in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what White-crowned hornbill means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain White-crowned hornbill out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is White-crowned hornbill in simple terms?

The white-crowned hornbill (Berenicornis comatus), also known as the long-crested hornbill or white-crested hornbill (leading to easy confusion with the African white-crested hornbill), is a species of hornbill. Taxonomy It is monotypic within the genus Berenicornis, although rarely the white-crest…

Why does White-crowned hornbill matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study White-crowned hornbill?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on White-crowned hornbill.