73 THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 2011 INSTALLATION OF ARTIFICIAL NEST CAVITIES FOR THE ENDANGERED GREAT HORNBILL: A PILOT STUDY IN SOUTHERN INDIA Douglas A. James Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA E-mail: djames@uark.edu Amitha Bachan K. H. Western Ghats Hornbill Foundation, Mathilakam Post, Thissur, Kerala, India Ragupathy Kannan Department of Biology, University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72908, USA ABSTRACT. – Six nest boxes designed for the Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) were installed in November- December 2007 in large trees in wet evergreen forests at six study sites in the Anaimalai Hills region of the southern Western Ghats located in the state of Kerala, India. By the end of two nesting seasons, the hornbills had shown interest in the next box trees and the nest boxes, but no nesting occurred in any of the nest boxes. Nesting in nest boxes usually takes three seasons with the Great Hornbill. This paper was presented at the 5 th International Hornbill Conference jointly organised by the National Parks Board (Singapore) and the Hornbill Research Foundation (Thailand), in Singapore on 22 nd –25 th March 2009. KEY WORDS. – Great Hornbill, nest boxes, India, Buceros bicornis. THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 2011 Supplement No. 24: 73–76 Date of Publication: 30 Mar.2011 © National University of Singapore INTRODUCTION We have shown that the Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) utilizes the largest trees when both foraging and nesting (Kannan & James, 2008; James & Kannan, 2009). We have also showed that there was a scarcity of trees of the size in which the hornbill commonly nested in (James & Kannan, 2009). Therefore, the present study was initiated to produce nesting sites in large trees that lacked them by erecting nesting boxes designed to fit the needs of Great Hornbills. The objective is to produce an increase in numbers of Great Hornbills by providing increased nesting opportunities. This activity is justified because of the hornbill’s scarcity in India, the site of the study, due to several problems (James & Kannan, 2009), resulting in its being designated an endangered species (CSE, 1982) and listed in Schedule I (most protected) of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 (MoEF, 2006). STUDY AREA The study area was located in Kerala, a southwestern coastal state in India, and precisely in the Vazhachal forest division extending on the north from the vicinity of Nelliyampathy to Parambikulum southward to the Edamalayar-Pooyamkutty Valley. This is in the Anaimalai hills region of the southern Western Ghats characterized by the extensive moist evergreen forests commonly occupied by Great Hornbills. METHODS Roughly following the dimensions recommended by Kemp (1995), six nest boxes were constructed using 6 cm thick mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) for the basic framework, the frame then covered with high quality marine plywood that was 3 cm in thickness. The internal nest chamber dimensions were 40 x 40 cm for both floor and roof (Figure 1). The back of the chamber was 80 cm high, the front only 78 cm to produce a 2 cm forward slope to the roof. The nest cavity opening was rectangular in shape measuring 15 cm wide by 35 cm tall. The lower margin of the opening was 20 cm from the floor, the upper margin 23 cm below the ceiling. The board forming the back of the box was 120 cm long, 10 cm of which extended above the roof and 25 cm extended below the compartment floor (tickness of cavity floor and roof contributed to the overall length of the back board). The board in front extended 20 cm below the compartment floor to serve as a tail support for the perched male bird.