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 mandible. Hornbills have a two-lobed kidney. They are the only birds in which the first and second neck vertebrae are fused together; this probably provides a more stable platform for carrying the bill. The family is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and small animals. They are monogamous breeders nesting in natural cavities in trees and sometimes cliffs. A number of mainly insular species of hornbill with small ranges are threatened with extinction, mainly in Southeast Asia.
Tockus is a genus of birds in the hornbill family, Bucerotidae, which are native to Africa.
The southern ground hornbill is one of two species of ground hornbill, both of which are found solely within Africa, and is the largest species in the hornbill order worldwide. It can be found in the southern regions of Africa, ranging from Kenya to South Africa. Within these regions, they inhabit both woodlands and savannas. The other species of the genus Bucorvus is the Abyssinian ground hornbill, B. abyssinicus.
The red-billed hornbills are a group of hornbills found in the savannas and woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. They are now usually split into five species, the northern red-billed hornbill, western red-billed hornbill, Tanzanian red-billed hornbill, southern red-billed hornbill and Damara red-billed hornbill, but some authorities consider the latter four all subspecies of Tockus erythrorhynchus.
Bycanistes is a genus of medium to large, primarily frugivorous hornbills found in the forests and woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa. They have often been included in the genus Ceratogymna, but today most authorities consider them separate. All species in this genus have black and white plumage. The plumage of the sexes is similar, but the casque of the male is larger than that of the female.
The African grey hornbill is a member of the hornbill family of mainly tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World. It is a widespread resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa and the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. The African grey hornbill has escaped or been deliberately released into Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.
The southern yellow-billed hornbill is a hornbill found in southern Africa. Yellow-billed hornbills feed mainly on the ground, where they forage for seeds, small insects, spiders and scorpions. This hornbill species is a common and widespread resident of dry thornveldt and broad-leafed woodlands. They can often be seen along roads and water courses.
Bucerotiformes is an order of birds that contains the hornbills, ground hornbills, hoopoes and wood hoopoes. These birds were previously classified as members of Coraciiformes. The clade is distributed in Africa, Asia, Europe and Melanesia.
The banded martin or banded sand martin is a small passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae that is endemic to Africa. It is the only species placed in the genus Neophedina.
The rufous-naped lark or rufous-naped bush lark is a widespread and conspicuous species of lark in the lightly wooded grasslands, open savannas and farmlands of the Afrotropics. Males attract attention to themselves by a bold and often repeated wing-fluttering display from a prominent perch, which is accompanied by a melodious and far-carrying whistled phrase. This rudimentary display has been proposed as the precursor to the wing-clapping displays of other bush lark species. They have consistently rufous outer wings and a short erectile crest, but the remaining plumage hues and markings are individually and geographically variable. It has a straight lower, and longish, curved upper mandible.
The oriental pied hornbill is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the family Bucerotidae. Two other common names for this species are Sunda pied hornbill (convexus) and Malaysian pied hornbill.
The Eastern yellow-billed hornbill, also known as the northern yellow-billed hornbill, is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. It resembles the southern yellow-billed hornbill, but has blackish skin around the eyes.
Jackson's hornbill is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is only found in North West Kenya and North East Uganda. Except for the dense white spots on the wing-coverts, it resembles, and is often considered a subspecies of, Von der Decken's hornbill.
The northern red-billed hornbill is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found from southern Mauritania through Somalia and northeast Tanzania. There are five species of red-billed hornbills recognized, but all five were once considered conspecific and some authorities still classify the others as subspecies of Tockus erythrorhynchus.
The western red-billed hornbill is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found from Senegal and Gambia to southern Mauritania and western Mali. There are five species of red-billed hornbills generally recognized now, but all five were once considered conspecific. Some authorities still categorize the group as Tockus erythrorhynchus with the remaining four as its subspecies
The Damara red-billed hornbill is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found in southwest Angola and northern Namibia. All five red-billed hornbills were formerly considered conspecific.
The white-winged widowbird is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to Africa south of the Sahara. It is highly sexually dimorphic in its breeding season, during which the male's yellow plumage turns dark and he gains more white feathers, contrasting with the female's predominantly pale coloration. Three subspecies are recognised.
The Tanzanian red-billed hornbill is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found in central Tanzania and was discovered by Robert Glen and Sue Stolberger in Ruaha National Park All five red-billed hornbills were formerly considered conspecific.
Cheloctonus jonesii is a species of scorpion in the family Hormuridae native to southern Africa.
Mediorhynchus mattei is a species of acanthocephalan, a parasitic worm, found in the digestive tract of a bird, the northern red-billed hornbill Tockus erythrorhynchus. Male worms are 2-3 cm in length, females are 3-11 cm in length. It was described in 1982; its name honours French zoologist Xavier Mattei.
