African Grey Hornbill
Lophocerus nasutus
Thornveld. Dark grey upperparts and bill; mottled brown wings. Distinctive eyebrow stripe and cream patch on bill. Most vocal.
Hornbills
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Common resident. Male’s rather small dark bill diagnostic. Female’s smaller casque and upper mandible creamy, the bill-tip red. Both sexes show a diagnostic white eyebrow and pale feather edges on their wings. Immature has a browner head and indistinct eyebrows. The call is a thin, piping, plaintive series of notes delivered with the bill pointing skywards ‘phe, phephee, pheephee, pheeoo, phew, pheeoo-pheeooo…’. Pairs and, in winter, flocks of up to about 30, occur in dry, mixed bushveld, savanna and thornveld. Mainly arboreal.
Quick Facts
Size
43-48 cm - L
Names
A: Grysneushoringvoël
Z: umkholwanomlotha
Ss: Korwe Ye Putswa
G: Grautoko
Bird Family
Insectivorous and frugivorous birds with large, decurved bills, sometimes with a horny casque on the upper mandible. Arboreal or terrestrial feeders, or both, they nest in holes in trees (among rocks in a few species) and, in most species, the female seals herself in during incubation. Their flight is heavy and undulating with periods of gliding.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
Pairs and, in winter, 'flocks of up to about 30, occur in dry, mixed bushveld, 'savanna' and thornveld.
