200 different Animals for a Non-birder on a Winter Trip?

[Lisbeth]

The grey-billed one is my favourite! It has class

[Toko]

Of course Rotschnabeltoko! Fixed!

So you like Mr Grauschnabeltoko

[Lisbeth]

very chic

[Toko]

Trumpeter Hornbill Bycanistes bucinator

Three of them having breakfast in the garden. The Ghost Mountain Inn is somewhat stylish, but it has a large garden with lots of trees and it's a true birders' heaven.














Mkuze Town, 2 September 2014



Identification: Length 58-65 cm, but tail long and heavy; mainly black; belly, tips of secondaries and of outer rectrices white; casque blackish, pointed in front (whitish, truncated in Silverycheeked Hornbill; bare skin around eye pink; casque smaller in ♀ than in ♂; white rump conspicuous in flight. Iris brown or red; skin around eye pink; bill and casque blackish; casque whitish behind; legs and feet black, soles whitish.
Immature: Like ♀, but feathers of face tipped brown.

Distribution: E Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, E Gauteng, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, N Botswana and N Namibia to Angola and Kenya.

Habitats: Forest, dense woodland with tall trees, riverine bushveld.

Habits: Usually gregarious in flocks of up to 50 birds (groups of 2-5 birds more usual). Roosts in groups of 3-12, rarely up to 50 birds. Forages by bounding and hopping lightly among branches. Flight heavy, but can take off almost vertically in dense forest. Vocal mostly morning and evening.

Food: Fruit (especially figs), large insects.

Breeding: Season: October to December. Nest: Natural hole in tree, less often in rock crevice; entrance sealed to form narrow slit; up to 12 m above ground. Clutch: 2-4 eggs. Nestlings in same brood differ in size; fed by ♂ at first, later by ♀ also, sometimes with 1-2 adult ♂ helpers.

[nan]

wow lot of Tokos... all beautiful the ones than others
(tous plus beaux les uns que les autres)

[Lisbeth]

"One prettier than the other"....Lovely collection, Toko

[Toko]

I like them, too, so have put up some more Trumpeters

[nan]

"One prettier than the other"....Lovely collection, Toko

[Toko]

Southern Ground Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri

These big ones occur almost only in the Kruger Park, so what can one do, one must go Kruger despite the sometimes lost wilderness experience


Kruger National Park, 25 August 2014

During the 20th Century its range and population size Southern Ground Hornbills in South Africa decreased by some two thirds, with the birds disappearing from much of their historical range. Such a rapid decrease in the population of a long-lived, slow-breeding animal is of great conservation concern and, based on IUCN criteria, the official conservation status of Southern Ground-Hornbills in Southern Africa has been elevated from Vulnerable to Endangered.

Identification: Size very large; turkeylike; mostly black; in flight primaries white; red wattles distinctive; ♀ usually has purplish blue also on face, orbital skin and wattles. Iris yellow; skin of face, throat and wattles bright red, bluish on centre of throat in ♀; legs and feet black, soles whitish.
Immature: Browner than adult; facial and gular skin light khaki; bill dark grey.

Distribution: The Southern ground-hornbill occurs from Kenya and the DRC to southern Africa, where it is widespread but fairly scarce in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo Province and northern Namibia.

Habitats: Any woodland, savanna, open grassveld, agricultural lands.

Habits: In pairs or groups of usually not more than 8 birds (2-4 adults and 1-3 immatures); mean group size (290) 3,6 birds. Neighbouring groups chase each other in aerial pursuits. Forages on ground, walking with stiff rolling gait on terminal phalanges of toes; digs with bill for food. Vocal mostly early morning; also late afternoon. Flight powerful with deep wingbeats, little gliding. Roosts in groups at ends of branches, head tucked into shoulders, bill pointing upwards.

Food: Entirely carnivorous; reptiles (including tortoises), frogs, snails, insects; also mammals up to size of hare.

Breeding: Monogamous, cooperative breeder, with a group consisting of a dominant breeding pair and sometimes helpers, who are either adult males or juveniles from previous breeding seasons. The group roosts in trees on rock faces, descending to the ground just before dawn and foraging for a lot of the day. They often take a break at midday to play, preen and pass around food to one another. The nest is usually a cavity in a tree lined with dry leaves, rarely nesting in cavities in rock faces or earthen banks. The same site is used repeatedly over many breeding seasons. Egg-laying season begins with the first heavy summer rains, from August-January, peaking from October-November. It lays 1-2, rarely 3 eggs 3-14 days apart, which are incubated solely by the female for 37-43 days. The female only makes 3-4 brief sorties out of the nest per day, so is largely reliant on the male and helpers to provide food. The eggs hatch in the sequence laid, meaning that the one chick is 3-14 days older than the other chick. The younger chick is unable to compete for food with its older sibling, and dies of starvation when it is about one week old, occasionally surviving for a few more weeks.. The female leaves the nest when the chick is about four weeks old, after which the chick is mostly alone in the nest. The fledging leaves the nest when it is approximately 86 days old, remaining with its parents for several years.

[Lisbeth]

How come that the number of the ground hornbill has decreased so much?