Crowned hornbill

Crowned hornbill
Adult male, uMkhuze Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Bucerotiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Subfamily:	Bucerotinae
Genus:	Tockus
Species:	T. alboterminatus
Binomial name
Tockus alboterminatus (Büttikofer, 1889)

The crowned hornbill (Tockus alboterminatus) is an African hornbill. It is a medium-sized bird, 50–54 centimetres (20–21 in) in length, and is characterized by its white belly and black back and wings. The tips of the long tail feathers are white. The eyes are yellow; the beak is red and presents a stocky casque on the upper mandible. In females, the casque is smaller. The crowned hornbill can be distinguished from the similar Bradfield's hornbill by its shorter beak.

The crowned hornbill is a common resident of the coastal and riverine forests of southern (only the eastern coast) to northeastern Africa. It forages mainly in trees, where it feeds on insects (often caught in flight), small rodents, small reptiles, seeds and fruits. This hornbill species can be seen in flocks, usually in the dry season. Four to five white eggs are incubated for 25 to 30 days; the juveniles remain with both parents for about 8 weeks.

References

• Gordon Lindsay Maclean, Robert's Birds of South Africa, 6th Edition ISBN 0-620-17583-4

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tockus alboterminatus.

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