Photographing Hornbill in Wild Singapore

Photographing Hornbill in Wild Singapore

The Pied Hornbill is native to the island of Singapore but population had declined to the point of local extinction in the 60’s. In the early 90’s, nest box breeding program was introduced at Pulau Ubin ( a nearby island) by NPark to study and breed the Pied Hornbill. I remember visiting Pulau Ubin in early 2000 to see box breeding program at the research center.

This morning as we were birding at the Pandan River, just as we were keeping our camera gears, a pair of Pied Hornbill flew into the perch in the beautiful morning sun. Photographing hornbill in the wild in Singapore is not too difficult now as the population of Pied Hornbill has increased over the years since the breeding program started 20 over years ago.

How I Photographed Hornbill in the wild in Singapore ?

For flight shoots:

100-400mm lens,

Handheld,

At least 1/1600 speed to freeze the motion.

Continuous auto focus mode.

Breeding behaviour

Hornbills generally form a monogamous pair in the wild where female lays eggs in tree hole and sealed up in the nest for months in the hole till the eggs are hatch. The female and chicks highly dependent on the male to feed the entire family for their survival.