The male “concrete” the female and children alive inside the tree. It sounds gloomy, but in the end all the birds are happy (10 photos)

The hornbill would be an ideal character for the Male-Female show. Just imagine: their males tenderly court the females, lulling their vigilance, then lure them into hollows, make children for them and wall them up alive! Such imprisonment can last for months.





But after being released, the hornbill is in no hurry to run away from her strange husband, but remains with him, waiting for the next “captivity.” What's wrong with them anyway?!



So colorful that parrots feel uncomfortable around it.

It all starts innocently. A male rhinoceros very beautifully looks after the female he likes: he stays close, cleans her feathers and, if the lady accepts the courtship, makes his way to her heart through her stomach. Most species present gifts to their significant other in the form of fruits of varying degrees of sweetness, but some species have switched to meat. Birds from Borneo, for example, love to treat their chosen ones to monitor lizards.





Romantic kiss (and mouth-to-mouth food transfer).

By bringing the female goodies, the gentleman not only makes her happy, but also shows that he is able to feed his future family. If the beauty agrees, then they will have a night of love and a joint choice of apartment. Hornbills take great care of their offspring, so they select a wide and spacious hollow with a narrow entrance, where a predator cannot enter. Then the lovers build a nest, and the female prepares to lay 2-8 eggs. And at this moment the romantic fairy tale ends. A nightmare begins.



Darling, believe me, this is for your own good!

Now the princesses, cuckooing in the towers with dragons, will nervously move aside to smoke. The male collects clay and seals the entrance to the hollow in which his other half sits. He immures the female and unborn children alive. The hard-hearted bird leaves only a small crack where its beak can barely squeeze through. Through it he will transfer food to the family.



Look - a caterpillar! The best I could find!

Living in darkness and cramped conditions causes the female to begin molting—she quickly loses her plumage. Weeks and even months pass by. The captive lays eggs, incubates them and raises the offspring until they no longer fit into the hollow.



Dad, when will you let us out?

After all the horrors of captivity, the male destroys the wall. The couple amicably raises the chicks, sees them off to adulthood and begins to fatten up in preparation for the next mating season. Wait, what? Does the female have Stockholm syndrome?



Darling, maybe you will wall me up again?

No, I just lied to you a little. Well, he lied - he provided outdated data. 4 years ago we already wrote about the hornbill, and then the scientific community had no doubt about the cruelty of the males. But recent research shows that ladies are no less involved in creating a dungeon than gentlemen.



And I will give this insect to my lady of the heart. To build better!

Digging even deeper, ornithologists found that when a clay wall is damaged, rhinoceroses often repair it on their own. And in the event of the death of the family breadwinner, mothers leave the nest without any problems and try to raise their children. And the sudden molting does not occur due to acute attacks of claustrophobia, but because the female can allow the plumage to be changed quickly and immediately, rather than stretching out this period for months.



Why are you staring? Have you ever seen a tree being fed?

But why take such drastic measures? For safety! A hollow walled up with clay is not easy to find, and even more difficult to penetrate. The window into the nest can be plugged with the beak without any problems. So the young mother and her children are in total isolation not only from food and light, but also from predators.



So, well, where is my hubby?

In other words, a couple of new facts have turned hornbills from a “tyrant-codependent victim” pair into a selfless family, ready to give up comfort for the sake of their offspring. Therefore, before you judge other people, think - do you know enough about them?