Northern Red-billed Hornbill

Description:

Larger bird but counts as a one of the smaller and slender hornbills, with total length reaching some 40 to 45 cm. Dark grey upperparts and long tail. Wing covers with white spots and patches. Main feature is a long red bill without casque.

Habitat:

Widespread red-billed hornbill of Northern part of sub-Saharan Africa, found in savannah and woodland areas. Here, observed in urban setting, in a small town of Hudet of Oromiya region in Ethiopia; a small rural town surrounded with semi-arid acacia woodlands.

Notes:

There were a big group of these (and some other birds) in and around the small guesthouse where we stayed. They looked not tamed at all, but very accustomed to presence of people - to the point of freely climbing the tables and claiming their share of meal (as seen on picture 5). People too, were quite amused by this, and let them. Thanks to all of this, I was able to shoot as many photos of these beautiful birds as I wanted...