Just as the peacock is the national bird of our country, in the same way, there are different state birds of the Different States Of The Country. Today we will talk about Ghusar Dhanesh, the state bird of Chandigarh. It is Indian Ghusar Dhanesh, Common Gray Dhaneshu, Dhanchiri, etc. is known by the names. In English, it is called Indian Grey Hornbill and Common Grey Hornbill Dhanesh. Along with India, it is also seen sporadically in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh. In India, it is found in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and parts of Rajasthan. It is not found in the Western Ghats, North-East states, and coastal parts of Rajasthan to the west and north-west.
Indian Grey Hornbill
Living
Hornbills are generally tree-dwellers. Due to this, it is especially liked to live in open forests, parks, fruit orchards, or gardens in the lowlands. It is also found in the mountainous forest of the Himalayas at an altitude of up to 1500 meters. When travelling by road, it can also be seen sitting on the trees on the side of the road. Sometimes it even comes near village settlements. It is why people know about it and recognises it as soon as they see it. The common hornbill is a social bird. It always lives in pairs or small groups.
Sometimes it even forms large groups. It is a very noisy bird. Its voice is long and loud. From this, while going from one tree to another and sitting on the bare tree, it can be seen making a loud crackling sound of KKKKK or KKAKAKA. It makes a very loud noise even when flying. Their flight is difficult, and they flap their outstretched wings as they float in the air.
Body of Indian grey hornbill
The hornbill is a dark brown coloured bird with a long tail. Its length is about 60 cm. Its tail feathers are long, and its heads are black and white. The beak of the common Dhanesh is long and curved, and its colour is yellow. But near the base it is black. It has a helmet-like black colored long and pointed head on its beak. The female’s head is small, and there is more yellowness in her beak. The body of the female hornbill is also more brown or brownish to yellowish. At the same time, the body of the male is grey. The belly part of the male hornbill is white. The ends of its flying feathers are also white.
Food and reproduction
The main food of the common hornbill is a variety of wild fruits, seeds, berries, etc. It also makes its diet on insects, lizards, or rodents like rats. It is a tree-dwelling bird, but it descends from the tree to hunt and eat the fruits lying on the ground. During the breeding season, it builds nests at more than 3 to 4 meters in the cots of Trees Like Peepal and Sembhal. Hornbill breeding season starts from April and lasts till June. It lays one to five eggs of the same size at a time.
The female Indian Grey hornbill closes the nest door by making a wall of her faeces, urine, etc. Its faecal urine is such that it becomes hard like clay when dried. It has a hole about 5 to 8 cm deep in its nest door, 1 to 2 cm in diameter. The female hornbill grabs the bark of a tree near this nest. At the same time, the female comes out of her beak and takes food from the male. The female comes out of the nest when the babies are 1 week old. Now both the male and female together arrange food for the children. When the chicks grow up, hornbills leave their young to live their lives like other birds.