Data from: Variability in gut passage time of Asian hornbills

Seed gut passage time through animals influence germination and
displacement distance of seeds from parent plants. Hornbills are the
largest avian seed dispersers in Asian tropical forests. In this study, we
compared gut passage times for five large seeded tree species across gut
passage trials, for three hornbill species. This study was conducted on
six captive birds in Nagaland, India. The gut passage time of seeds for
the tree species varied from 5 to 536 minutes. There was no difference in
gut passage times between trials, between male and female birds and
different fruit tree species for the Oriental Pied Hornbill. For the
Rufous-necked Hornbill, we found differences in gut passage times across
trials for Beilschmiedia assamica and Polyalthia simiarum, between
individuals for Livistona jenkinsiana and across tree species, especially
for the female. For the Wreathed Hornbill, we found differences in gut
passage times across trials for Aglaia spectabilis and Syzygium cumini,
between individuals for Beilschmiedia assamica and Livistona jenkinsiana
and across tree species only for the female bird. Mean gut passage times
reported here are higher than those reported previously for Asian
hornbills. Context-specific variability in gut passage times highlights
the need to examine the causes that result in these inconsistent patterns.