Red-billed hornbill

Description:

This bird has mainly whitish underparts and head, and grey upperparts. It has a long tail and a long and curved red bill. Females and males are similar, but the female has a smaller bill. It is a large bird, at 42 cm long, but is one of the smaller hornbills. 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.

Habitat:

Savanna and woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa

Notes:

We stopped for lunch at a picnic site and several species of birds came along to see if we would feed them.