The Malabar grey hornbill (Ocyceros griseus), ‘Kozhi Vezhambal (കോഴി വേഴാമ്പൽ) ’ in Malayalam vernacular is a resident, endemic hornbill species of the Western Ghats of southern India. The birds have a large beak but lack the casque that is prominent in some other hornbill species. They are found mainly in dense forests including semi-evergreen to moist-deciduous forests, and in coffee, arecanut and rubber plantations. They move around in small groups, feeding on figs and other forest fruits. Their loud cackling and laughing call make them familiar to the people living in the region.
The Malabar grey hornbill is a large bird, but mid-sized for a hornbill, at 45 to 58 cm in length. It has a 23 cm tail and pale or yellowish to reddish-orange bill. Males have a reddish-orange bill with a yellow tip, while the females have a plain yellow bill with black at the base of the lower mandible and a black stripe along the culmen. They show a broad whitish superciliary band above the eye, running down to the neck. They fly with a strong flap and glide flight and hop around heavily on the outer branches of large fruiting trees. They have brown-grey wings, a white carpal patch and black primary flight feathers tipped with white. The bird has a grey back and a cinnamon vent. The long tail is blackish with a white tip; the middle four feathers of the tail are completely blackish. The underparts are gray with white streaks. The long curved bill has no casque. Immature birds have browner upperparts and a yellow bill. Young birds have a dull white or yellow iris.
The Malabar grey hornbill is frugivorous and also act as agents of seed dispersal for many species of fruit-bearing forest trees. Recently, the birds can be frequently sighted in village grooves and wooded areas with fruit-bearing trees. The birds also feed on small vertebrates and in captivity they will readily take meat.
The breeding season is January to May. Being secondary cavity nesters (incapable of excavating their own nests), they find trees with large cavities. The bird prefers nest sites that had large trees. The nest holes were usually found in large trees with hollows caused by heart-rot, where a branch had broken off. Trees of the species Lagerstroemia microcarpa, Terminalia bellirica and Terminalia crenulata were found preferable for the nests. The species is monogamous, and the same nest sites are used by the pair year after year. The female incarcerates herself within the cavity by sealing its entrance with a cement made from her droppings. The female then lays three or sometimes four white eggs and begins a complete moult of her flight feathers. The entrance to the nest retains a narrow aperture through which the female voids excreta and receives food from the male. The male brings all the food needed for the female and the young ones. Berries, insects, small rodents and reptiles are included in the diet. Males tap the tree to beckon the female on arriving with food. Berries are regurgitated one at a time and shifted to the tip of the bill before being passed to the female. The large-scale deforestation and habitat fragmentation have severely affected the population of Malabar Grey Hornbill.