Southern Red-Billed Hornbill (T. rufirostris)

Susan Roehl
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Southern Red-Billed Hornbill (T. rufirostris)
Southern Red-Billed Hornbill (T. rufirostris)

Okavango Delta
Moremi Game Reserve
Botswana

The Red-billed Hornbills are a group of hornbills found in savanna and woodland of sub-Saharan Africa They are now usually split into five species, the Northern Red-billed Hornbill (T. erythrorhynchus), Western Red-billed Hornbill (T. kempi), Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill (T. ruahae), Southern Red-billed Hornbill (T. rufirostris) and Damara Red-billed Hornbill (T. damarensis), but some authorities considered them all to be subspecies of a single species.

This group of conspicuous birds have mainly whitish underparts and head, grey upperparts, long tails, and a long and curved red bill which lacks a casque. Sexes are similar, but the female has a smaller bill. They are generally large, at 42 cm long, but the entire group are considered some of the smaller hornbills.

During incubation, the female lays three to six white eggs in a tree hole, which is blocked off with a plaster of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, just big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks. When the chicks and the female are too big to fit in the nest, the mother breaks out and rebuilds the wall, then both parents feed the chicks. Wikipedia

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Taken on: November 30, 2013
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