About the Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
The southern yellow-billed hornbill is a hornbill found in southern Africa. Yellow-billed hornbills feed mainly on the ground, where they forage for seeds, small insects, spiders and scorpions. This hornbill species is a common and widespread resident of dry thornveldt and broad-leafed woodlands. They can often be seen along roads and water courses.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in September · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Northern Red-billed HornbillTockus erythrorhynchusThe northern red-billed hornbill is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae.
Southern Red-billed HornbillTockus rufirostrisThe sexes are similar, but males are larger and heavier.
Von der Decken's HornbillTockus deckeniThis species is a small hornbill with blackish upperparts and mainly whitish underparts and head.
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