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Q22 (IAS/2016) Environment & Ecology › Biodiversity & Protected Areas › Flagship species ecology Official Key

In which of the following regions of India are you most likely to come across the 'Great Indian Hornbill' in its natural habitat?

Result
Your answer: —  ·  Correct: D
Explanation

The correct answer is option D (Western Ghats) because the Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) is found in the Anaimalai Hills of southern[1] India[2], which are part of the Western Ghats mountain range. The Great Indian Hornbill is a large forest-dwelling bird that requires dense, moist evergreen and semi-evergreen forests with tall trees for nesting and feeding, conditions typically found in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot.

Options A, B, and C can be ruled out based on habitat requirements: sand deserts of northwest India lack the forest cover and moisture needed; the higher Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir are too cold and lack suitable tropical/subtropical forest; and salt marshes of western Gujarat are wetland ecosystems entirely unsuitable for this arboreal forest species. While the species is also found in the foothills of the Himalayas (up to about 1200m)[3], this refers to the eastern Himalayan foothills with forest cover, not the higher, alpine regions of Jammu and Kashmir mentioned in option B.

Sources
  1. [1] https://www.birdpop.org/docs/journals/Volume-13/BPJ13-06_Das.pdf
  2. [3] https://moef.gov.in/uploads/2017/09/Sikkim.pdf
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. In which of the following regions of India are you most likely to come across the 'Great Indian Hornbill' in its natural habitat? [A] Sa…
At a glance
Origin: Mostly Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 0/10 · 10/10
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This is a classic 'Habitat-Matching' question. You don't need to have read a specific news article; you need to apply 'Ecological Logic'. A giant frugivorous (fruit-eating) bird with a massive beak requires a tall, dense tropical canopy for food and nesting cavities. This immediately rules out deserts, marshes, and alpine zones.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Which regions of India constitute the natural habitat of the Great Indian Hornbill (Buceros bicornis)?
Origin: Web / Current Affairs Fairness: CA heavy Web-answerable

Web source
Presence: 4/5
"the Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) in the Anaimalai Hills of southern India."
Why this source?
  • Directly names a region in southern India where Buceros bicornis occurs.
  • Specifically cites the Anaimalai Hills as habitat for the Great Hornbill.
Web source
Presence: 4/5
"Region (from foot hills of the Himalayas to about 1200m) Fauna: endangered species of birds like the Kalij and Red Junglefowl, Great Indian Hornbill Buceros bicornis homrai locally called ‘Hongraio’"
Why this source?
  • Identifies occurrence of the Great Indian Hornbill in a Himalayan foothill ecoregion.
  • Lists Buceros bicornis among the fauna of the region (foot hills of the Himalayas to about 1200m).
Web source
Presence: 4/5
"Nesting habitat of the Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) in the Anaimalai Hills of southern India."
Why this source?
  • References nesting habitat of Buceros bicornis in the Anaimalai Hills.
  • Supports southern India (Anaimalai/Western Ghats) as part of its natural range.

INDIA PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation > NATURAL VEGETATION > p. 42
Strength: 5/5
“India is a land of great variety of natural vegetation. Himalayan heights are marked with temperate vegetation; the Western Ghats and the Andaman Nicobar Islands have tropical rain forests, the deltaic regions have tropical forests and mangroves; the desert and semi desert areas of Rajasthan are known for cactii, a wide variety of bushes and thorny vegetation. Depending upon the variations in the climate and the soil, the vegetation of India changes from one region to another. On the basis of certain common features such as predominant vegetation type and climatic regions, Indian forests can be divided into the following groups:”
Why relevant

States that the Western Ghats and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands have tropical rain forests — a vegetation type known to support large frugivorous forest birds.

How to extend

A student can combine this with basic species-habitat knowledge (hornbills favour dense tropical forests) and a map to suspect the Western Ghats and Andamans as likely hornbill areas.

Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation and National Parks > Natural Vegetation and National Parks > p. 1
Strength: 5/5
“Here, the plant species are exotic and have migrated from the Trans-Himalayan areas (Tibet and China). This natural vegetation is classified as boreal. Plants which have come from the adjacent tropical regions are known as palaeo-tropical. Those plants which came from north Africa have influenced the vegetation of the arid and semi-arid regions, such as the Thar, as well as a good deal of the Great Plains of India. Those immigrating from Indo-Malaysia have influenced the vegetal cover of the hilly regions of north-eastern India. This process of the immigration of uninvited plant species is not only continuous, but has actually become more marked with the increase in communication with other lands, both by sea and air.”
Why relevant

Notes that Indo‑Malaysian immigration has influenced the vegetation of the hilly regions of north‑eastern India, implying tropical evergreen/semievergreen forests there.

How to extend

Using a map and the rule that Indo‑Malayan-type forests occur in NE India, a student could infer northeastern hill regions as probable hornbill habitat.

Environment and Ecology, Majid Hussain (Access publishing 3rd ed.) > Chapter 4: BIODIVERSITY > Biogeographic zones of India > p. 23
Strength: 4/5
“As stated above, India has great diversity in its fauna and fora. On the basis of natural vegetation and wildlife India has been divided by the ecologists into ten bio-geographic regions and 25 biogeographic provinces. Te biogeographic regions have been delineated to utilise the ecosystems judiciously and to conserve the biodiversity. Te biogeographic regions have been shown in Fig. 4.4 (Table 4.5). A brief description of these regions have been given in the following: • 1. Te Peninsular Region: It covers the greater parts of the Peninsular India. Covered with Archaean rocks, red and black soils, it has teak, tendu, sal, rosewood, mahuwa, jackfruit, betelnut, hollock, orchids, fern and several deciduous and evergreen foral species.”
Why relevant

Describes the Peninsular Region with teak, sal, and several deciduous and evergreen floral species — indicating substantial forest cover in peninsular India.

How to extend

A student could treat peninsular evergreen/deciduous forests (Western Ghats and adjoining areas) as possible hornbill habitat by mapping these forest zones.

INDIA PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation > WILDLIFE > p. 47
Strength: 3/5
“You would have visited a zoo and may have seen animals and birds in captivity. Wildlife of India is a great natural heritage. It is estimated that about 4-5 per cent of all known plant and animal species on the earth are found in India. The main reason for this remarkable diversity of life forms is the great diversity of the ecosystem which this country has preserved and supported through the ages. Over the years, their habitat has been disturbed by human activities and as a result, their numbers have dwindled significantly. There are certain species that are at the brink of extinction.”
Why relevant

Emphasises that India's biodiversity is tied to diverse ecosystems and that some species are restricted by specific habitats — supporting the approach of locating species by vegetation/biogeographic zones.

How to extend

A student can use this general principle to prioritize search for hornbills within distinct forest biogeographic zones (e.g., tropical evergreen/semievergreen regions) on a map.

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