Lophoceros nasutus
The African Grey Hornbill, Lophoceros nasutus, is a charismatic medium-sized bird endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, instantly recognizable by its distinctive bill adorned with a prominent casque, smaller in females. Measuring approximately 45-50 cm (18-20 inches) in length with a wingspan around 60 cm (24 inches) and weighing 180-260 grams, it sports a largely grey body, a clean white belly, and black wings tipped with white primaries. A long tail, framed by white outer feathers, adds to its ele...
Found primarily in open woodlands, savannas, dry thornbush, and riverine forests, often adapting to suburban gardens and cultivation. Typically inhabits low to medium elevations, up to around 2,000 meters.
Opportunistic omnivores, primarily consuming insects (beetles, grasshoppers, termites), small reptiles, spiders, fruit (especially figs), and seeds, gleaned from trees and the ground.
African Grey Hornbills are diurnal, active from dawn to dusk, often roosting communally in trees. Their foraging strategy involves gleaning insects and small vertebrates from foliage and branches, probing into bark, and snatching food from the ground, frequently following monkeys or other animals...
The African Grey Hornbill boasts a vast distribution across sub-Saharan Africa, extending from Senegal and Gambia in the west, eastward through the Sahel and Horn of Africa to Eritrea and Ethiopia, and southwards through East Africa down to northern South Africa, including countries like Kenya, T...
Least Concern
- The female African Grey Hornbill famously seals herself inside a tree cavity with mud and droppings, leaving only a narrow slit through which the male feeds her and the young during incubation and early chick-rearing. - This species exhibits a unique undulating flight pattern, characterized by ...