Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill vs Von der Decken's Hornbill

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Tockus leucomelas

Medium188 gGrassland

It is a medium-sized bird, 48–60 cm (19–24 in) in length, 132–242 g (0.29–0.53 lb) in weight and is characterized by a long yellow and down-curved beak. This beak is huge in comparison to its body and can account for up 1/6th of the entire body length. Male beaks are on average 90 mm long while female beaks are an average of 74 mm. Males are generally bigger than females but there is overlap between the sexes. The size difference of the beak is a fairly reliable way of differentiating sex in wild hornbills. Voice: Southern yellow-billed hornbills have a piercing cry. However it has a wide variety of sounds it can make such as, whistling, grunting and caqueting. They will use their loud calls to either delimit their territory or for long-distance communication. Like other Tockus, they will often accompany their calls with conspicuous physical displays.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0

Von der Decken's Hornbill

Tockus deckeni

Medium168 gGrassland

This species is a small hornbill with blackish upperparts and mainly whitish underparts and head. It has a long tail and a long curved bill which lacks a casque. It is similar to the red-billed hornbill except for the bill colour and the lack of spotting on the wing coverts in both male and female. The species shows sexual dimorphism; the female has a black bill, whereas the male has a red bill with a cream tip and a black cutting edge.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Mara 1 from Scotland · CC BY 2.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill and Von der Decken's Hornbill.