Hornbill
| Hornbills |
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Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
(Bucorvus abyssinicus) <tr><th bgcolor=pink>Scientific classification <tr><td>
Anorrhinus
Anthracoceros
Buceros
Bucorvus
Ceratogymna (=Bycanistes)
Ocyceros
Penelopides
Tockus </table>
Hornbills (Family Bucerotidae) are a group of birds whose bill is shaped like a cow's horn, but without a twist, sometimes with a casque on the upper mandible. Frequently, the bill is brightly coloured.
Both the common English and the scientific name of the family refer to the shape of the bill, "Buceros" being "cow horn" in Greek.
The Bucerotidae family includes 57 species, 9 of them endemic to the Southern part of Africa. During incubation, the female lays up to six white eggs locked within the nest cavity, made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks.
When the chicks and the female are too big to fit in the nest, the mother breaks out and rebuilds the wall, then both parents feed the chicks. In some species the chicks themselves rebuild the wall unaided.
Hornbills' distribution ranges from Africa south of the Sahara through tropical Asia to the Philippines and Solomon Islands. Most are arboreal birds of dense forest, but the large Ground Hornbills, as their name implies, are terrestrial birds of open savanna.
Hornbills are omnivorous birds, eating fruit, insects and small animals.
In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, hornbills are separated from the Coraciiformes, which also includes kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers, as a separate order Bucerotiformes.
Some species have different plumages for each sex. The blue throat of the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill pictured here shows it to be an adult female.
Most species' casques are very light, containing a good deal of air space. However, the Rhinoceros Hornbill has a solid casque made of a material called hornbill ivory, which the Chinese valued greatly as a carving material.
Order Coraciiformes
- Alcedinidae - River kingfishers
- Halcyonidae - Tree kingfishers
- Cerylidae - Water or belted kingfishers
- Todidae - Todies
- Momotidae - Motmots
- Meropidae - Bee-eaters
- Leptosomatidae - Cuckoo Roller
- Brachypteraciidae - Ground Rollers
- Coraciidae - Rollers
- Upupidae - Hoopoe
- Phoeniculidae - Woodhoopoes
- Bucerotidae - Hornbills
- Aceros
- White-crowned Hornbill - Aceros comatus
- Rufous-necked Hornbill - Aceros nipalensis
- Wrinkled Hornbill - Aceros corrugatus
- Writhe-billed Hornbill - Aceros waldeni
- Writhed Hornbill - Aceros leucocephalus
- Knobbed Hornbill - Aceros cassidix
- Wreathed Hornbill - Aceros undulatus
- Narcondam Hornbill - Aceros narcondami
- Sumba Hornbill - Aceros everetti
- Plain-pouched Hornbill - Aceros subruficollis
- Blyth's Hornbill - Aceros plicatus
- Anorrhinus
- Brown Hornbill - Anorrhinus austeni
- Rusty-cheeked Hornbill - Anorrhinus tickelli
- Bushy-crested Hornbill - Anorrhinus galeritus
- Anthracoceros
- Black Hornbill - Anthracoceros malayanus
- Palawan Hornbill - Anthracoceros marchei
- Sulu Hornbill - Anthracoceros montani
- Malabar Pied Hornbill - Anthracoceros coronatus
- Oriental Pied Hornbill - Anthracoceros albirostris
- Buceros
- Rhinoceros Hornbill - Buceros rhinoceros
- Great Hornbill - Buceros bicornis
- Rufous Hornbill - Buceros hydrocorax
- Helmeted Hornbill - Buceros vigil
- Bucorvus
- Abyssinian Ground Hornbill - Bucorvus abyssinicus
- Southern Ground Hornbill - Bucorvus leadbeateri
- Ceratogymna
- Trumpeter Hornbill - Ceratogymna bucinator
- Piping Hornbill - Ceratogymna fistulator
- Silvery-cheeked Hornbill - Ceratogymna brevis
- Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill - Ceratogymna subcylindricus
- Brown-cheeked Hornbill - Ceratogymna cylindricus
- White-thighed Hornbill - Ceratogymna albotibialis
- Black-casqued Hornbill - Ceratogymna atrata
- Yellow-casqued Hornbill - Ceratogymna elata
- Ocyceros
- Malabar Grey Hornbill - Ocyceros griseus
- Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill - Ocyceros gingalensis
- Indian Grey Hornbill - Ocyceros birostris
- Penelopides
- Luzon Hornbill - Penelopides manillae
- Mindoro Hornbill - Penelopides mindorensis
- Tarictic Hornbill - Penelopides panini
- Samar Hornbill - Penelopides samarensis
- Mindanao Hornbill - Penelopides affinis
- Sulawesi Hornbill - Penelopides exarhatus
- Tockus
- White-crested Hornbill - Tockus albocristatus
- Black Dwarf Hornbill - Tockus hartlaubi
- Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill - Tockus camurus
- Monteiro's Hornbill - Tockus monteiri
- Red-billed Hornbill - Tockus erythrorhynchus
- Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill - Tockus flavirostris
- Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill - Tockus leucomelas
- Jackson's Hornbill - Tockus jacksoni
- Von der Decken's Hornbill - Tockus deckeni
- Crowned Hornbill - Tockus alboterminatus
- Bradfield's Hornbill - Tockus bradfieldi
- African Pied Hornbill - Tockus fasciatus
- Hemprich's Hornbill - Tockus hemprichii
- African Grey Hornbill - Tockus nasutus
- Pale-billed Hornbill - Tockus pallidirostris
- Aceros
References
Gordon Lindsay Maclean - Robert's Birds of South Africa, 6th Edition
Hornbill is also the magazine of the Bombay Natural History Society. This society's icon is a Great Indian Hornbill sitting on a branch.
fr:Bucérotidé ms:Burung Enggang