07-08-2025
- Science
- New Indian Express
Great Hornbill sighted on Kerala's sandy coastal stretch in rare phenomenon
TRISSUR: In a rare and striking sighting, the Great Hornbill, also known as Malamuzhakki Vezhambal, the state bird of Kerala, usually found in hilly terrains, was allegedly spotted in the sandy coastal belt between Kodungallur and Kaipamangalam by researchers Amitha Bachan K H and Aswin Krishna.
The team confirmed the sighting and photographed the bird feeding on a large false asoka tree, just 200 metres away from the beach.
The Western Ghats Hornbill Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, has been monitoring and protecting Great Hornbills and their nesting trees in the Vazhachal forests with the involvement of the local Kadar indigenous community since 2005.
According to Dr Amitha, a member of the IUCN Hornbill Specialist Group and founder of the Hornbill Foundation, 'Similar movements of adult males of the species during the post-breeding and pre-nesting period of July to November have occurred before. It was also sighted once in the coastal region of Thiruvananthapuram a decade ago. Both of the earlier sightings were in lateritic hillock regions near the coast, where there are large vegetation tracts similar to small patches of forest. However, this particular sighting was on a sandy coastal beach, on an isolated tree.'
