'yellow billed hornbill' | watercolour & graphite

The Yellow-billed Hornbill has one of the most unusual — and charming — breeding strategies in the bush. When a female chooses a nest cavity, she climbs inside and seals herself in, leaving only a thin slit open. She does the sealing herself, using mud and debris, while the male brings her the materials and later all her food. She stays in that tiny chamber for weeks, incubating the eggs and moulting her flight feathers while he faithfully feeds her through the narrow opening. Once the chicks hatch and grow a little, the female breaks out, helps reseal the cavity with the youngsters inside, and then joins the male in feeding them until they’re ready to fledge. It’s an extraordinary partnership — part devotion, part ingenuity — and one of the reasons the Yellow-billed Hornbill remains one of the bushveld’s most endearing birds.