Page 551 - Hand rearing birds second

Hornbills, Kingfishers, Hoopoes, and Bee-eaters 551

A wide variety of insects, other invertebrates, small mammals, small reptiles, amphibians, bird
eggs, and nestlings make up the bulk of the diets of the kingfishers, bee‐eaters, rollers, woodhoo-
poes, hoopoes, and ground hornbills. Kingfishers prefer beating their prey items against a branch
prior to eating. Bee‐eaters mostly hunt in flight, eating bees, wasps, and related stinging species,
manipulating the items until the stingers fall out. Most rollers go to the ground to feed, except the
Dollarbirds that mainly take their prey in flight. Hoopoes probe for food in the ground with their
long narrow bills. Although most other insectivorous birds cast a pellet made up of the indigestible
chitin of the exoskeletons, hoopoes excrete it in their feces. The woodhoopoes use their long
narrow beaks to probe behind bark eating, among other things, lots of caterpillars.
Although most hornbills are omnivorous, there are species that are mainly carnivorous or mainly
frugivorous. When the frugivorous species are breeding, there are often many animal prey items
included in the diet. The carnivorous species tend to live in the savanna and are semi‐terrestrial.
Most of the frugivorous species live in the forest and are arboreal. Most hornbills do not drink
water and rely on food as a source of hydration.

Criteria for Intervention

Although parent‐reared birds are preferred at both facilities, chicks may be brought in for hand‐
rearing as a result of parental neglect or a history of failures due to a variety of causes. Most chicks
that are hand‐reared are hatched using artificial incubation. This eliminates, for the most part, any
chance of exposing them to parasites or infectious diseases. Chicks removed from parental care are
isolated from others until the veterinary staff can evaluate their health via fecal gram stains and
culture results. If parent‐hatched chicks are healthy and well‐hydrated (Figure 36.1), they may be
relatively easy to hand‐rear when removed from the nest prior to fledging. However, it may be
extremely time consuming to successfully hand‐rear a chick whose health has been compromised
by less‐than‐adequate parental care.

Figure 36.1 Well-hydrated White-
fronted Bee-eater during first week.
Source: photo © Zoological Society
of San Diego.