भारत के निम्नलिखित क्षेत्रों में से ‘ग्रेट इंडियन हॉर्नबिल’ के अपने प्राकृतिक आवास में पाए जाने की सबसे अधिक सम्भावना कहाँ है?
Read this question in English
In which of the following regions of India are you most likely to come across the 'Great Indian Hornbill' in its natural habitat?
(a) Sand deserts of northwest India · (b) Higher Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir · (c) Salt marshes of western Gujarat · (d) Western Ghats
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (d) पश्चिमी घाट
The Great (Indian) Hornbill is a bird of tall, evergreen tropical forests: it feeds largely on fruit and nests in cavities of big old trees. In India such forests occur in the Western Ghats and the north-east; deserts, the treeless high Himalayas and salt marshes offer neither food nor nest sites.
- ✓ (d) The Kerala Forest Department records the Great Indian Hornbill in the evergreen forests of the State, in the Western Ghats, and it is Kerala's State bird.
- ✗ (b) The higher Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir are cold and largely treeless above the forest line, with no tropical evergreen forest.
- ✗ (a) The Thar sand desert has scrub vegetation, not the large, old trees hornbills need for nesting.
Remember · Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis): evergreen forests of the Western Ghats and north-east India; nests in holes of big old trees; State bird of Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 9 Exploration, Ch 12 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- Kerala Forest Department: Biodiversity - Fauna ↗ “Found in the evergreen forests of the valleys, they are omnivores that feed on fruits, lizards, snakes and small animals including insects. Great Indian Hornbill is our State bird.”
- NCERT Class 9 · Exploration, Chapter 12 “Pakke is also known for supporting four species of hornbills — the Rufous-necked Hornbill, the Oriental Pied Hornbill, the Great Hornbill, and the Wreathed Hornbill”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·