Red-billed Hornbill

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iRed-billed Hornbill

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Coraciiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. erythrorhynchus

Binomial name

Tockus erythrorhynchus
Temminck, 1823

Distribution of Red-billed Hornbill

Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) is a hornbill. Hornbills are a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World.

Red-billed Hornbill is a common resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa. During incubation, the female lays three to six 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.

This species has mainly whitish underparts and head and grey upperparts. It has a long tail and a long curved red bill which lacks a casque. Sexes are similar, but the female has a smaller bill. It is a large bird, at 42cm in length, but is one of the smaller hornbills.

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

This conspicuous bird also advertises its presence with its noisy accelerating tok-tok-tok-toktoktok call.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Tockus erythrorhynchus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1