I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 326 Hornbills Showing Affection!

There are a total of four toucans in the exhibit area!

Two toucans perched on different treetops, listening to the various bird calls chirping and squawking outside. They remained still, occasionally turning their heads, exchanging glances with each other as if to say, "No way to out-chirp them, might as well be a quiet beauty."

Another hopped and flew about the perching bar on the tree, nibbling on leaves and appearing very lively.

There was also a toucan standing on a curved log in the middle of a stream—though to call it a stream, it was actually just a one-meter wide flow of water tumbling down from several rustic, earth-colored rocks, splashing up white water droplets. It looked quite scenic.

On the wall behind, there were murals painted by Zhuang Xiaobai and the others—a light green forest with golden sunlight and shadows, and very detailed, blending seamlessly with the streams and trees inside the exhibit, creating a natural and harmonious appearance.

This toucan was using the running water to clean itself, its blue claws rapidly scratching its huge orange beak on the left and right sides. Then it lifted its wings and began grooming the feathers beneath its black wings with its beak.

After grooming for a bit, it hopped into the water, flapping its wings to make a splash, getting its body wet. With a turn, it hopped back out and continued to flap its wings to fly up to a treetop.

Yingying was mesmerized by the sight and curiously asked, "Mama, why do they have such big beaks? How do they manage to fly with them?"

Liu Xueqing looked at an explanatory panel next to her, which featured an illustration of the toucan's large beak, addressing this very question!

Toucans could only stay inside, so of course, there were explanatory panels about them.

Visitors, both adults and children alike, who saw the toucans' unique appearance probably all had this question.

Liu Xueqing picked out the simplest content she could explain to Yingying, "The toucan's beak is hollow! In fact, it's quite light and not as heavy as it looks."

The outside of the toucan's beak was covered by a thin layer of keratinous sheath, hollow inside, with a structure resembling a foam-like honeycomb. This special structure can effectively absorb impacts from outside.

Naturalists have researched why toucans have such exaggerated beaks and what purpose they serve, finding it functions similarly to chopsticks.

Toucans are heavy-set, and to forage for berries and seeds, if they were to stand on the thinner ends of branches, the branches wouldn't be able to support their weight.

However, with their large beaks, they can stand on thicker branches and reach the fruits growing on the finer ones.

Normally, they use their claws to scratch their beaks and rub their beaks on branches to remove food residue and the old keratin layer, to prevent their beaks from overgrowing or bending due to lack of wear, which could affect their foraging sensitivity.

Liu Xueqing thought of the toucan she had just seen cleaning itself in the stream, rubbing its beak with its claws, and suddenly her eyes lit up!

It was like the feeling of being a student encountering an ingeniously simple solution to a problem that she hadn't thought of, leading to a moment of enlightenment.

At that moment, a door in the wall behind quietly opened a crack.

The animal keeper opened the door gently and quietly, peeking in. The toucans turned their heads to look over as well.

Having just arrived in a new environment, there was a familiarization process with the exhibit area and the animal keepers, especially because the toucan exhibit had less space for hiding, so the animal keepers moved a little more lightly and slowly, to let them understand they bore no ill will.

Carrying a basket filled with food, he entered the exhibit and started tying grapes to the branches and perches with thin ropes!

He spread them out, hanging two or three grapes per branch.

Liu Xueqing suddenly had a question: other animals would just bite and chew their food and swallow, but with the toucan's beak being so long, a third the length of their bodies, how did they eat and swallow their food?

With this question in mind, she quickly reminded, "Yingying, look quickly, the toucan is about to eat!"

After the animal keeper left, one particularly courageous toucan was the first to relax its vigilance and flew to the perching bar. Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire

Standing in the middle of the perch, it observed the food for a moment, then suddenly leaned forward, bending its body and stretching its long beak, grasping a grape with the tip and deftly plucked it off!

Then, he fixed the grape under his foot and held it with his beak, biting off half.

The tourists all widened their eyes, watching intently.

An unexpected event occurred!

The toucan suddenly tilted his head, skilfully flicked the grape into the air, then tilted his head back, opened his mouth wide, and the grape landed precisely inside.

The movement was smooth and sleek in one fell swoop!

The tourists were dumbfounded, "Holy shit! That's cool!"

"Man, eating food is like performing acrobatics!"

"I've played this with my classmates before! We'd throw snacks into the air to see who could catch them. But I'm pretty clumsy, usually can't catch them."

Liu Xueqing finally understood how the toucan with such a long beak ate his food!

Yingying watched without looking away, utterly delighted, clapping her hands.

After watching the toucan eat for a while, they continued on.

They arrived at the hornbill exhibit!

The hornbills, like toucans, have huge beaks and are often confused by the tourists.

"Mama, what kind of bird is this?"

Liu Xueqing glanced at the exhibit sign, "This is the concave-casqued hornbill!"

The adult concave-casqued hornbill has a 30cm long beak and a broad casque on top, which is slightly concave at the front and has two horn-like protrusions, resembling the helmet of an ancient warrior, hence the name!

They are much larger than toucans, with a wingspan of 140-160cm and are considered large birds. Their exhibit space is also much larger than that of the toucans.

At that moment, two hornbills were perched on their stand, and the animal keeper was explaining to the tourists, "The one on the left is the hornbill wife, named Tiantian; the one on the right is the hornbill husband, Feifei!"

It looked like their food had just been replenished. Tiantian picked up a nut from the container hanging on the perch, tilted her head to the right, and stuffed it into Feifei's mouth. My dear, this one's for you!

Feifei held the nut, and the two hornbills touched tips of their beaks. Then Tiantian let go, Feifei blinked at Tiantian, and then passed the nut back to Tiantian. My dear, you have it!

The tourists, especially the single ones, watched with aching hearts, "Damn! Birds are showing off their love now!"

"These days, you go to the wolf exhibit to be fed dog food, and even a visit to a bird exhibit means a mouthful of bird feed! Life's tough for me!"

"So sour!"

"What did I do wrong to deserve watching this!"

Tiantian fumbled the nut in her mouth and then passed it back to Feifei!

This time as Feifei handed it back, Tiantian didn't hold it firmly, and the nut fell.

The animal keeper saw this and couldn't help but chuckle, "As you can see, our hornbill couple is indeed very affectionate! They can't bear to eat the tasty nuts themselves and are feeding each other instead."

The two hornbills looked at each other, Feifei picked out another nut from the container and fed it to Tiantian, who this time, ate it.