Farmer of the Forest

Few birds deserve the title farmer of the forest as squarely as the Malabar pied hornbill. It lives on fruit — figs above all — plucking them one at a time, flicking them back, and swallowing them whole. What it can’t digest it drops far and wide, planting the next generation of trees as it travels.

A big black-and-white bird under an enormous cream bill, topped by a heavy casque worn like a helmet. Glossy black above and clean white below, with white flashing along the wings and the long tail, it moves through the canopy with surprising ease for its size.

This one had found a fruiting tree in the Kabini forest, working the branches in the early light — quietly getting on with the day’s planting.