Southern Ground Hornbill
Bucorvus leadbeateri
Slow walking terrestrial. Large black hornbill with red facial and neck skin. White in wings when flying.
Hornbills
EN
Not Endemic
Description
Fairly common resident. A turkey-sized black bird with bare red face and throat-pouch. Female has a blue central patch on the pouch. In flight shows white wing-feathers. Immature has yellow facial skin and throat-pouch. The call is a deep booming, mostly heard at dawn ‘oomph, oomph-oomph’, frequently repeated. Usually occurs in groups of four to 10 in bushveld, woodland and montane grassland. Mainly terrestrial, walking slowly in loose array in search of food. Takes off in low flight only if disturbed or when going to roost in a tree. Numbers have decreased in recent years.
Quick Facts
Size
90 cm - VL
Names
A: Bromvoël
Z: insigizi
Ss: Lekgotutu
G: Hornrabe
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
Usually occurs in groups of four to 10 in bushveld, woodland and montane 'grassland'.
