From Opus

Alternative name: Northern Ground Hornbill

Female
Photo by Peter van Zoest
Aksum, Ethiopia, August 2008

Bucorvus abyssinicus

[edit] Identification

Length 90-100 cm
Black, large bill with an open-fronted casque sitting atop it, stubby legs and toes and broad feet, blue circumorbital skin, blue area at the front of the throat, white primaries in flight.
Males develop red on the inflatable throat pouch; the females usually remain all blue.

[edit] Distribution

Africa. Thinly distributed south of the Sahara and north of the equator.
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda

[edit] Taxonomy

Monotypic.

[edit] Habitat

Savanna and grassland.

[edit] Behaviour

These birds are normally seen alone or in small family groups, walking in a somewhat stately manner across the landscape.

Although they are primarily seen on the ground they are capable of flight when disturbed.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes small vertebrates and invertebrates, including tortoises, lizards, spiders, beetles, and caterpillars; also takes carrion, some fruits, seeds, and groundnuts.

[edit] References

1. Avibase

• List of references

[edit] External Links