Brief Notes: Predation on the Bat Chaerephon Plicata by the Black Hornbill, Anthracoceros Malayanus

Most species of hombill are omnivorous, eating fruit as well as small animals. Ground frequenting species appear to be entirely carnivorous while forest species rely on fruit as their main diet (Campbell and Lack, 1985). Carnivory has been observed in several species of Bornean hornbills. Smythies (1981) recorded that the Rhinoceros Hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros, can capturea Murina in flight and that the White-crested Hombill, Berenicornis comatus can catch weak flying swiftlets on the wing. Captive Black Hombill, Anthracoceros malayanus, have been fed raw fish, small birds (Java Sparrows) and a horseshoe bat, which was swallowed with some difficulty (Smythies, 1981). The following observations confirm that the Black Hombill will indulge in carnivory in the wild. Chapman (1985) reported an unidentified species of hombill flapping in and out of a dense stream of bats emerging from Gua Payau (Deer Cave), Gunung Mulu National Park, but he was unable to determine if the hornbills were catching and eating the bats.