>Tockus albocristatus (White-crested Hornbill)

White-crested Hornbill

White-crested Hornbill
Tropicranus a. albocristatus in Central Park Zoo, USA.
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Subfamily:	Bucerotinae
Genus:	Tropicranus W.L. Sclater, 1922
Species:	T. albocristatus
Binomial name
Tropicranus albocristatus (Cassin, 1848)
Synonyms
Tockus albocristatus Berenicornis albocristatus

The White-crested Hornbill (Tropicranus albocristatus), also known as the Long-tailed Hornbill, is a species of hornbill (family Bucerotidae) found in humid forests of Central and West Africa. It is monotypic within the genus Tropicranus, but is sometimes included in the genus Tockus instead.

Taxonomy

There are three subspecies, which primarily differ in the amount of white to their head and neck and the presence/absence of white tips to the wing-coverts:

• Tropicranus albocristatus albocristatus (Cassin, 1848) - Guinea to the Ivory Coast.
• Tropicranus albocristatus cassini (Finsch, 1903) - Nigeria east to Uganda and south to Angola.
• Tropicranus albocristatus macrourus (Bonaparte, 1850) - Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Range

The White-crested Hornbill has a large range in Africa across Angola, Benin, Cameroon,Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal,Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda. It is frequent in parts of its range. Although its population is difficult to estimate, it is not thought to be threatened.

Gallery

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  At San Diego Zoo
 
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  At Central Park Zoo, USA

>Tockus camurus (Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill)

Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill

 

Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Subfamily:	Bucerotinae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. camurus
Binomial name
Tockus camurus Cassin, 1857

The Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill (Tockus camurus) is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda.

>Tockus hartlaubi (Black Dwarf Hornbill)

Black Dwarf Hornbill

Black Dwarf Hornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. hartlaubi
Binomial name
Tockus hartlaubi Gould, 1861

The Black Dwarf Hornbill (Tockus hartlaubi) is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo,Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea,Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.

>Tockus (deckeni) jacksoni (Jackson's Hornbill)

Jackson's Hornbill

Jackson's Hornbill
Female in Kenya
Male in Kenya
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. jacksoni
Binomial name
Tockus jacksoni (Ogilvie-Grant, 1891)
Synonyms
Tockus deckeni jacksoni

The Jackson's Hornbill (Tockus jacksoni) is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. Except for the dense white spots to the wing-coverts, it resembles, and is often considered a subspecies of, Von der Decken's Hornbill.

>Tockus deckeni (Von der Decken's Hornbill)

Von der Decken's Hornbill

Von der Decken's Hornbill
Male
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. deckeni
Binomial name
Tockus deckeni (Cabanis, 1869)
Distribution of Von der Decken's Hornbill (NOTE: Includes range of Jackson's Hornbill)

Von der Decken's Hornbill (Tockus deckeni) is a hornbill, found in East Africa, especially to the east of the East African Rift, from Ethiopia south to Tanzania. It is mainly found in thorn scrub and similar arid habitats. It often includes Jackson's Hornbill as a subspecies. It was named after the German explorer Baron Karl Klaus von der Decken (1833–1865).

Description

This species is a small hornbill which has mainly whitish underparts and head and blackish upperparts. It has a long tail and a long curved bill which lacks a casque. It is similar to the Red-billed Hornbill except for the bill colour, and the lack of spotting on the wing coverts in both male and female.

The species shows sexual dimorphism; the female has a black bill, whereas the male has a red bill with a cream tip and a black cutting edge.

Female	Male

Breeding

During incubation, the female lays two or three white eggs in a tree hole, which is blocked off with a cement made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, just 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.

Captive breeding can be achieved by providing a small barrel or hollow tree with an entrance hole that is 5 inches tall and 3 inches wide. The birds will mud the hole shut once the hen is ready.

Food and feeding

Male with a large insect, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Von der Decken's Hornbill is omnivorous, taking insects, fruit and seeds. It feeds mainly on the ground and will form flocks outside the breeding season. In captivity the Von Der Decken Hornbill will eat the following readily; papaya, cantaloupe, blueberries, bananas, and apples. also live food such as crickets and mealworms should be offered daily. Small rodents are readily taken but should only be offered 2 to 3 times per week.

>Tockus flavirostris (Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill)

Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. flavirostris
Binomial name
Tockus flavirostris (Rüppell, 1835)
Approximate distribution in blue

The Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill (Tockus flavirostris), formerly Northern Yellow-billed Hornbill, is a species of hornbill in the Bucerotidae family. It is found in Djibouti,Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. It resembles the Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, but has blackish (not pinkish) skin around the eyes.

>Tockus leucomelas (Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill)

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
In Etosha National Park
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. leucomelas
Binomial name
Tockus leucomelas Lichtenstein, 1842
Blue – range

The Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill (Tockus leucomelas) is a Hornbill found in southern Africa. It is a medium sized bird, with length between 48 to 60 cm, characterized by a long yellow beak with a casque (casque reduced in the female). The skin around the eyes and in the malar stripe is pinkish. The related Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill from north-eastern Africa has blackish skin around the eyes.

They have a white belly, grey neck, and black back with abundant white spots and stripes. They feed mainly on the ground, where they forage for seeds, small insects, spiders and scorpions. Termites and ants are a preferred food source in the dry season.

Females lay 3 to 4 white eggs in their nest cavities and incubate them for about 25 days. Juveniles take about 45 days to mature. This hornbill is a common, widespread resident of the dry thorn fields and broad-leafed woodlands. Frequently they can be sighted along roads.

Information from a Kruger National Park ranger, these birds are known locally as the "Flying Banana".

Gallery

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  Kalahari Desert, Botswana
 
• 

  Kruger Park, South Africa
 
• 

  Northern Sabi Sand, South Africa

• 

  Kruger National Park, South Africa

>Tockus erythrorhynchus (Red-billed Hornbill)

Red-billed Hornbill

Red-billed Hornbill
T. erythrorhynchus rufirostris
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Bucerotiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Subfamily:	Bucerotinae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. erythrorhynchus
Binomial name
Tockus erythrorhynchus Temminck, 1823
Distribution of Red-billed Hornbill
Synonyms
Lophoceros damarensis

Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) is a relatively small species of hornbill found in savanna and woodland of sub-Saharan Africa. It is sometimes split into five species, the Northern Red-billed Hornbill (T. erythrorhynchus), Western Red-billed Hornbill (T. kempi), Tanzania Red-billed Hornbill (T. ruahae), Southern Red-billed Hornbill (T. rufirostris) and Damara Red-billed Hornbill (T. damarensis), but at present most authorities considered them all to be subspecies of a single species.

The Red-billed Hornbill has a black stripe on the back of its head. The nominate subspecies shown on this photo has reddish ocular skin and dark eyes.

Subspecies T. e. damarensis, illustration by Keulemans, 1892

T. e. kempi is the only subspecies with both dark eyes and blackish ocular skin

At a nest in Gambia

Description

This conspicuous bird has mainly whitish underparts and head, and grey upperparts. It has a long tail and a long and curved red bill which lacks a casque. Sexes are similar, but the female has a smaller bill. It is a large bird, at 42 cm long, but is one of the smaller hornbills. It advertises its presence with its noisy accelerating tok-tok-tok-toktoktok call.

Behaviour

Breeding

During incubation, the female lays three to six white eggs in a tree hole, which is blocked off with a plaster of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, just 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.

Feeding

This species is omnivorous, taking insects, fruit and seeds. It feeds mainly on the ground and will form flocks outside the breeding season.

In popular culture

• Zazu, a character in the animated film The Lion King, is a red-billed hornbill. He is also featured in the sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and the mid-quel The Lion King 1½.

>Tockus monteiri (Monteiro's Hornbill)

Monteiro's Hornbill

Tockus monteiriadult male

Monteiro's Hornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Subfamily:	Bucerotinae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. monteiri
Binomial name
Tockus monteiri Hartlaub, 1865

Distribution of Monteiro's Hornbill

The Monteiro's Hornbill, Tockus monteiri, is an African Hornbill. It is a medium sized bird, with a length between 54 to 58 cm, characterized by a white belly, black back, with white spots on the wings and secondary flight feathers coloured white. The outer feathers of the long tail are also white.

Females are smaller than males and can be recognized by turquoise facial skin. The eyes are black and the beak is red. Unlike other members of the family, which are omnivorous, the Monteiro's hornbill feeds exclusively on insects and other small arthropods. Its habitat is the savannah and dry thorn fields of NW Namibia.

In springtime, Monteiro's hornbills migrate to the southern Windhoek region for nesting. Due to the arid environment, drinking is not a vital necessity for this species. They breed in the end of good rainy season, laying 3 to 5 white-greyish eggs, hatched after about 45 days. The nest is built in rocky faces or trees. The Monteiro's hornbill is a common endemic species of Namibia, with total population estimated on 340,000 individuals.

>Tockus nasutus (African Grey Hornbill)

African Grey Hornbill

African Grey Hornbill
Female near Lake Naivasha, Kenya
Male near Crater Lake, Naivasha, Kenya
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. nasutus
Binomial name
Tockus nasutus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Global range in blue

adult male in Limpopo, South Africa

The African Grey Hornbill (Tockus nasutus) is a hornbill. Hornbills are a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World.

The African Grey Hornbill is a widespread and common resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa and into Arabia.

This is a bird mainly of open woodland and savannah. The female lays two to four white eggs in a tree hollow, which is blocked off during incubation with a cement made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, just big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks.

When the chicks and female outgrow the nest, the mother breaks out and rebuilds the wall, after which both parents feed the chicks.

This species is a large bird, at 45 cm in length, but is one of the smaller hornbills. It has mainly grey plumage, with the head, flight feathers and long tail being a darker shade. There is a white line down each side of the head and one on the back which is visible only in flight. The long curved bill is black and has a small casque and a creamy horizontal stripe.

The male has a black bill, whereas the female has red on the mandibles. The plumage of the male and female is similar. Immature birds are more uniformly grey. The flight is undulating. The similarly sized Red-billed Hornbill has uniformly grey plumage.

The African Grey Hornbill is omnivorous, taking insects, fruit and reptiles. It feeds mainly in trees.

This conspicuous bird advertises its presence with its piping pee-o pee-o pee-o call.