Home › All birds › Helmeted hornbill

The Helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) is a bird found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei. Tall rainforests of Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. It eats fruit, small mammals and birds and reptiles and frogs. The IUCN Red List lists it as Critically Endangered.

🏡 Where the Helmeted hornbill lives

Tall rainforests of Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🍎 Fruit60%
• 🐭 Mammals & birds20%
• 🦎 Reptiles & frogs20%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Questions about the Helmeted hornbill

Where does the Helmeted hornbill live?

The Helmeted hornbill lives in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei. Tall rainforests of Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.

What does the Helmeted hornbill eat?

fruit (about 60%), small mammals and birds (about 20%), reptiles and frogs (about 20%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Helmeted hornbill endangered?

Almost gone from the wild. Its IUCN Red List category is Critically Endangered.

More birds from Asia

• White-winged magpie
• Mauritius olive white-eye
• Javan white-eye
• Rota white-eye
• Negros striped babbler
• Speckled reed warbler

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.