Africa Wild

457. African Grey Hornbill Lophoceros nasutus (Grysneushoringvoel)
Order: Bucerotiformes. Family: Bucerotidae


Taxonomic Notes
Lophoceros nasutus (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Tockus.

Description
45 cm. Grey body, head, flight feathers and long tail are darker. White line down each side of the head and one on the back (visible only in flight). Long curved bill (black in male, female has red mandibles). Small casque and a creamy horizontal stripe.
Immature birds are more uniformly grey.

Distribution
Occurs throughout the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. In dry mixed bushveld, savanna and thornveld in northern part of South-Africa, excluding Cape provinces. Also found in north-eastern parts of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.



Habitat
Wooded savannas and woodland, wooded gardens and alien tree plantations.

Diet
It mainly eats animals, such as birds eggs and nestlings, insects, rodents and frogs, supplemented with small fruit. It mainly forages by flying to different bushes, catching prey as it moves; it may also grab animals on the ground.

Breeding
It usually nests in natural holes in tree trunks or branches; once a site has been selected the female seals it from the inside with her own faeces. Most of its nests have a "chimney" or "funk-hole", which is a tunnel leading out from the cavity that the female moves into if it feels threatened. It occasionally nests in rock crevices, barbet-made tree holes and nest boxes. Egg-laying season starts after first strong summer rains, peaking from October-November. It lays 3-5 white eggs at 1-7 day intervals, taking about 6-10 days to complete the clutch. Incubation is done solely by the female for about 24 days, fed by the male through the small entrance slit. The chicks stay in the nest for 43-49 days, although the female leaves when the oldest chick is 19-34 days old, after which the chicks reseal the entrance. After fledging the young join their parents on foraging trips, becoming fully independent a few weeks later.

Call
The call is a thin piping plaintive series of notes delivered with the bill pointed skywards phe, phep-hee, pheephee, pheeoo, phew, pheeoo-pheeoo. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident.

457. African Grey Hornbill Lophoceros nasutus


Male

© Flutterby
Female

© Pumbaa
Male. Kruger National Park

© BluTuna

© steamtrainfan

© Dewi
Male


Juvenile, Kruger National Park around Letaba in Feb 2020 © Pumbaa


© mposthumus
Juvenile

© mposthumus

© mposthumus

© mposthumus

Links:
Sabap2
NEWMAN'S VOELS VAN SA (8ste UIT)
Africa Wild: The Tale of Toko and Kate: https://www.africawild-forum.com/viewto ... 112&t=1681

461. Bradfield's Hornbill Tockus bradfieldi (Bradfieldse Neushoringvoel)
Order: Bucerotiformes. Family: Bucerotidae


Description
50-57 cm; 170–395 g
Sexes are alike but the females are smaller than the males and can be recognised by turquoise facial skin. Paler grey-brown plumage and paler orange bill than Crowned Hornbill. Characterised by white belly, black back and wings. The tip feathers of the long tail are white. The beak is long and presents no casque. Eyes are yellow to pale orange. Juvenile has a smaller and paler bill, and eyes are initially grey at fledgling.

Distribution
Found in north-eastern Namibia (especially in the Waterberg plateau), north Botswana, southern Angola and east Zimbabwe.



Habitat
Tall broad-leaved woodland.

Diet
They feed on fruits, large insects, nuts and small reptiles.

Breeding
The nest is usually a natural tree cavity, 3-7 m above ground. Once the site is chosen, the female seals the entrance from the inside with her own faeces, leaving just a narrow slit. Surprisingly, the first recorded nest of this bird was in a rock crevice in Namibia, in 1937. Egg-laying season usually peaks from November-December.
It usually lays 3 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female, for at least 28 days. The female emerges from the nest chamber when the chicks are about 32 days old, after which she helps the male to provide food for the brood. The chicks usually stay in the nest for about 50 days, only becoming fully independent when they are roughly 3 months old.

Call
Loud high-pitched whistling notes.

Status
Generally uncommon to locally common near-endemic. IUCN status - Least Concern.

461. Bradfield's Hornbill Tockus bradfieldi (Bradfieldse Neushoringvoel)

© Dindingwe
Hwange NP, Zimbabwe

Links:
http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/bir ... fieldi.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradfield%27s_hornbill

462. Monteiro's Hornbill Tockus monteiri (Monteirose Neushoringvoel)
Order: Bucerotiformes. Family: Bucerotidae


Description
It is the largest of the seven Tockus hornbills in the region, with a length of approximately 54 cm; the males being slightly larger than the females and having a larger bill. The sexes are alike in plumage colouration, with dark grey head, neck and upper breast; brown back and tail. The large expanse of white on the outer tail feathers, the white-spotted upper-wing coverts and the white secondaries are diagnostic. It has a white belly and vent. The large curved bill is red; eyes are brown; legs are black.
Similar species: The similar Bradfield's Hornbill has no white in the wings and has a white-tipped tail.

Distribution
The Montiero’s Hornbill is a near-endemic to Namibia and its range is limited to central and north-west Namibia, spilling outside the southern African region only into the southern part of Angola.



Habitat
Dry thornveld and broad-leaved woodland.

Diet
Montiero’s Hornbills feed mainly on insects and other invertebrates, chameleons, lizards, bird’s eggs and fledglings. They also eat fruit, seeds and flowers, and use their large bills to dig for roots and tubers.

Breeding
Monogamous. It usually nests in natural tree or rock cavities, but it also regularly uses nest boxes. The male searches for potential nesting sites, plugging with mud the ones he thinks might be suitable to try to discourage other cavity-nesters. Once he has a marked them he then presents them to the female, who chooses which cavity to use. The inside of the nest is sometimes lined with crushed millipedes, which are thought to serve as an antibiotic to control parasites. The female then seals the entrance from the inside, using faeces and material supplied by the male, leaving a small slit through which the male passes food to her. Egg-laying season is from October-March, peaking from January-March, about 1 month after the first heavy summer rains. It lays 2-8, usually 4-6 white eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for 24-27 days, fed by the male through the entrance slit. The female leaves the nest when the oldest chick is roughly 22 days old, after which the oldest chicks reseal the entrance. They eventually leave when they are 44-46 days old, becoming fully independent a few days later.

Status
Fairly common, localised resident.

462. Monteiro's Hornbill Tockus monteiri

[ © Michele Nel

© nan
Namibia

© Dindingwe
Female

© Dindingwe
Male


Links:
Sabap2
PFIAO 2006. Monteiro's Hornbills: Selfish mothers. Africa - Birds & Birding 11(2):19
Boix-Hinzen, C., Stanback, M. & Mendelsohn, J. 2000. Plugging the gap: monitoring Monteiro's hornbills. Africa - Birds & Birding 5(1):56-59.

Damara Red-billed Hornbill Tockus damarensis (Damararooibekneushoringvoël)
Order: Bucerotiformes. Family: Bucerotidae


Description
Size: 40 to 50c m. Weight: 210 g. Small to medium hornbills with black and white, grey and brown plumages. It has dark (not yellow) eyes, white forehead and ear coverts plus more extensive facial skin than the Southern Red-billed Hornbill.

Distribution
Central and north-western Namibia such as Etosha National Park, Epupa Falls, Damaraland and Kaokoland.



Habitat
It generally favours Acacia woodland, also occurring in Mopane (Colosphermum mopane) woodland, broad-leaved savanna and riverine woodland.

Diet
Mainly eats insects, doing most of its foraging on bare ground but occasionally catching insects in the air.

Breeding
It usually uses natural tree holes as nests, lining the interior with leaves. Once a site has been chosen, the female seals the entrance almost completely, using its own faces and crushed millipedes brought by the male. Egg-laying season peaks from February to March, after the onset of summer rainfall. The female lays 3-8 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 24-27 days. The male helps out by giving the female food through the narrow nest entrance slit. The female leaves the nest when the oldest chick is about 18 days of age, after which the chicks reseal the nest entrance. They stay in the nest hole for roughly 27 more days, becoming fully independent a few days after fledging.

Status
Fairly common, localised resident.

Damara Red-billed Hornbill Tockus damarensis

© Dewi
Namibia

© puppy
Waterberg Plateau, Namibia

© Dindingwe

Links:
Sabap2
The Larger Illustrated Guide to Birds of Southern Africa
NEWMAN'S VOELS VAN SA (8ste UIT)

458. Southern Red-billed Hornbill Tockus rufirostris (Rooibekneushoringvoël)
Order: Bucerotiformes. Family: Bucerotidae


Description
It is a large bird, at 42 cm long, but is one of the smaller hornbills. Head and throat grey. Facial feathers streaked with grey. The bare circumorbital skin is pink. Mainly whitish underparts, grey/black upperparts. It has a long tail and a long and curved red bill except at the base of the lower mandible, which is black. The bill lacks a casque. The eyes are yellow and the legs are dark brown to grey.
Sexes are similar, but the female has a smaller bill.
Juvenile birds have shorter bills and buffy spots on their wing-coverts.
Similar species: In northwestern Namibia confusable with Damara Hornbill, but is smaller and darker overall, has obvious dark streaking on the face, neck and throat, and has a pale eye. T. damarensis has white facial feathers and a brown eye. Speckled upperparts should obviate confusion with other, larger, red-billed hornbills.

Distribution
From Angola and northern Namibia to Mozambique and eastern South Africa.



Habitat
Common in open, wooded savanna with sparse ground cover.

Diet
Omnivorous species. It feeds mainly on insects (beetles, ants, termites and flies), but it also takes larger arthropods, small vertebrates, small seeds and fruit. It feeds mainly on the ground.

Breeding
It nests in natural cavities in trees 0.3-9.0 m above ground. The female seals it with her own faeces, leaving a small entrance hole 3-4 cm wide. Egg-laying season after good summer rains, from September-March, peaking from October-December. It lays 2-7, usually 3-5 eggs, as the number depends on rainfall and food availability before laying. Incubation is done solely by the female for about 23-25 days, starting with the first laid egg. The chicks stay in the nest for 39-50 days, remaining near the nest for a few more days before joining their parents on foraging trips.

Call
A series of rapid wha wha wha calls followed by a kuk-we kuk-we; in calling display the head is lowered but the wings are held closed. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident, normally in pairs or small flocks.

458. Southern Red-billed Hornbill Tockus rufirostris

© Toko

© Pumbaa
Kruger National Park

© ExFmem

© Penga Ndlovu

Links:
Sabap2