Malabar grey hornbill Malabar grey hornbill The Malabar grey hornbill ("Ocyceros griseus") is a hornbill endemic to the Western Ghats and associated hills of southern India. They have a large beak but lack the casque that is prominent in some other hornbill species. They are found mainly in dense forest and around rubber, arecanut or coffee plantations. They move around in small groups, feeding on figs and other forest fruits. Their loud cackling and laughing call makes them familiar to people living in the region. The Malabar grey hornbill is a large bird, but mid-sized for a hornbill, at in length. It has
Malabar trogon "fakir's kafni" (robe). The Marathi name is "karna" while it is called "kakarne hakki" in Kannada In Kerala it is known as "theekakka" (literally "fire-crow"). In Sri Lanka, it is known as "loha wannichcha". Malabar trogons feed exclusively on insects and fruits have not been noted in their diet unlike in the New World trogons. Seeds have however been reported in the diet of Sri Lankan specimens. In the forests of Sri Lanka, they are often found in mixed-species foraging flocks where they may sometimes be subject to kleptoparasitism by drongos. A study in Kerala found that they foraged mainly