Southern yellow-billed hornbill

Southern yellow-billed hornbill
In Etosha National Park
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Bucerotiformes
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, 48–60 centimetres (19–24 in) in length, characterized by a long yellow beak with a casque. The casque is smaller 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 three to four 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. They can often be seen along roads.

Gallery

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  Kalahari Desert, Botswana

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  Northern Sabi Sand, South Africa

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  Kruger National Park, South Africa

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  In flight, Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa

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  Calling, Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill.

Wikispecies has information related to: Tockus leucomelas

• Gordon Lindsay Maclean - Robert's Birds of South Africa, 6th Edition

External links

• Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.