The trumpeter hornbill (''Bycanistes bucinator'') is a medium-sized
hornbill
Hornbills are birds found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia of the family Bucerotidae. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a horny casque on the upper ...
, with length between , characterized by a large grey
casque on the bill, smaller in females. The eyes are brown or red, with pink surrounding skin. Body mass is between .
[''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), .] It is similar to
silvery-cheeked hornbill. Distinguishing features include an all-black back, white belly and white underwing coverts (in flight, wings present white tips), and red facial skin.
The trumpeter hornbill is a gregarious bird, usually living in groups of two to five individuals, although sometimes as many as fifty. This hornbill is a locally common resident of the tropical evergreen forests of
Burundi
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
,
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
,
Congo,
North Pare Mountains of Tanzania,
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, the
Caprivi strip of
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
and eastern
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, where it feeds on fruits and large insects. Like other hornbills, the females incubate four to five white eggs while sealed in the nest compartment.
Aviculture
When they are kept and fed in captivity, they are tame, loving birds that can be taught a variety of tricks and enjoy companionship with their owner. They require large, spacious cages to move about in because of their active nature. Care is needed with their high fruit diet because of their susceptibility to excessive iron storage (similar to the excessive iron storage seen in the disease
hemochromatosis
Iron overload is the abnormal and increased accumulation of total iron in the body, leading to organ damage. The primary mechanism of organ damage is oxidative stress, as elevated intracellular iron levels increase free radical formation via the ...
in humans). They are very intelligent and have a life expectancy of up to 20 years.
Widespread throughout its large range, the trumpeter hornbill is evaluated as
least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
on the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...
.
Gallery
Image:Trumpeter hornbill feeding mate 31l07.JPG,
Image:Trumpeter Hornbill - Bycanistes bucinator, Livingstone, Southern Province, Zambia.jpg,
Image:TrumpeterHornbill.jpg,
Image:Ceratogymna bucinator JF.jpg,
References
External links
BirdLife Species Factsheet* Trumpeter hornbill
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1262205
trumpeter hornbill
Birds of Southern Africa
Fauna of the Eastern Highlands
trumpeter hornbill
Taxa named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck