Examining Activity, Courtship, and Social Behaviour in Zoo-Housed Wreathed Hornbills: Potential Insights into Pair Compatibility
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Population and Location
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. State Behaviours
3.2. Event (Courtship) Behaviours
3.3. Event (Maintenance and Interaction) Behaviours
3.4. Behavioural and Environmental Impacts on Courtship Display
3.5. Enclosure Usage
4. Discussion
4.1. Behavioural Outcomes
4.2. Enclosure and Space Use
4.3. Research Extensions and Husbandry Developments
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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State Behaviours | Event Behaviours | Enclosure Use | On Same Perch as Partner | Visitor Number |
---|---|---|---|---|
Inactive. The individual is perched and does not move. | Calling/displaying. The individual is jumping from one side to another on a horizontal perch, while opening and closing its wings simultaneously. The bird emits species-specific vocalisations. | On ground. Individual is located on the ground | Count of occurrences of when individuals are located on the same perch more than one beak length apart. Used as an indication of social space use. | The cumulative number of visitors seen during a 30 min observation period. |
Exploration. The individual is actively looking around or is in locomotion. | Allofeeding. The individual is attempting to feed their partner, both unsuccessful and successful attempts. | Middle level. Individual is located between the ground and the height of the aviary beams. | ||
Other active. All other activities not listed including feeding, cleaning their beaks. | Aggressive behaviour (towards a conspecific). Individual is showing aggressive behaviour towards their partner (e.g., biting, pecking, jabbing). | Up high. Individual is located on or above the height of the aviary beams. | ||
At nest box. The individual is looking into the nest box or is inside the nest box. | Allopreening. Manipulation of partner bird’s feathers. | |||
With partner. As a measure of social association. A bird is within a beak’s length of their partner. Should one bird be trying to perch close to their partner, but the other bird moves away, we recorded this as “with partner” for the instigator but not for the bird that was choosing otherwise. | Preening. Manipulation of own feathers. | |||
Interaction with any other species. Any other interactions observed between the hornbill and another bird species within the enclosure, for example aggression. |
Predictor | Estimate | SE | Z Value | p Value |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sex (male) | 0.367 | 0.164 | 2.232 | 0.026 |
Within one beak length of partner (min) | −0.071 | 0.017 | −4.232 | <0.001 |
Perching high up (min) | 0.018 | 0.006 | 2.874 | 0.004 |
Inactivity (min) | −0.064 | 0.013 | −4.922 | <0.001 |
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Groot, K.; Rose, P. Examining Activity, Courtship, and Social Behaviour in Zoo-Housed Wreathed Hornbills: Potential Insights into Pair Compatibility. J. Zool. Bot. Gard. 2025, 6, 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg6010010
Groot K, Rose P. Examining Activity, Courtship, and Social Behaviour in Zoo-Housed Wreathed Hornbills: Potential Insights into Pair Compatibility. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens. 2025; 6(1):10. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg6010010
Chicago/Turabian StyleGroot, Kees, and Paul Rose. 2025. "Examining Activity, Courtship, and Social Behaviour in Zoo-Housed Wreathed Hornbills: Potential Insights into Pair Compatibility" Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 6, no. 1: 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg6010010
APA StyleGroot, K., & Rose, P. (2025). Examining Activity, Courtship, and Social Behaviour in Zoo-Housed Wreathed Hornbills: Potential Insights into Pair Compatibility. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens, 6(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg6010010