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, namely in Southeast Asia.
Ceratogymna is a genus of large, primarily frugivorous hornbills found in the humid forests of Central and West Africa. They are sexually dimorphic: males are all black, while females have brown heads and a smaller casque. Unlike the members of the genus Bycanistes, the two species in the genus Ceratogymna have extensive, primarily blue, bare facial skin and dewlap, and the only white in their plumage is in the tail.
The green wood hoopoe is a large, up to 44 cm (17 in) long tropical bird native to Africa. It is a member of the family Phoeniculidae, the wood hoopoes, and was formerly known as the red-billed wood hoopoe.
Hlathikulu Forest is a coastal scarp forest in the Lebombo Mountains of South Africa, between Ingwavuma and the Pongola Gorge. The forest is also known as the Gwaliweni Forest. The forest is part of the IUCN's Maputaland Centre of Plant Endemism
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 Congo pied hornbill or African pied hornbill is a bird of the hornbill family, a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World.
The white-bellied duiker is a duiker found in central Africa. Little is known on the ecology of the species, and only some information on habitat and diet is available.
The silvery-cheeked hornbill is a large species of hornbill found in Africa. Silvery-cheeked hornbills are residents of the tall evergreen forests of East Africa from Ethiopia to South Africa. In Zimbabwe it is threatened by habitat destruction and its presence in South Africa is marginal, but it remains locally fairly common, especially in the northern and central parts of its range.
The trumpeter hornbill is a medium-sized hornbill, with length between 58 and 65 cm, 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 0.45 and 1 kg. It is similar to silvery-cheeked hornbill. Distinguishing features include an all-black back, white belly and white underwing coverts, and red facial skin.
The speckled mousebird is the largest species of mousebird, as well as one of the most common. It is found throughout most of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa.
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 black-and-white-casqued hornbill also known as the grey-cheeked hornbill, is a large black and white hornbill. It has an oversized blackish bill with a large casque on top. The female is slightly smaller than the male and has a significantly smaller casque. It is a monogamous species, and pairs nest in suitable tree cavities. The female usually lays up to two eggs. The diet consists mainly of figs, fruits, insects and small animals found in the trees.
The southern carmine bee-eater is a species of bee-eater found across sub-equatorial Africa. It was formerly considered conspecific with the closely related northern carmine bee-eater, with the combined species then known as carmine bee-eater.
The brown-cheeked hornbill is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its natural habitats are tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, plantations, and secondary growth forests. It is threatened by habitat destruction, as timber is harvested and the forests become increasingly fragmented.
The piping hornbill is a bird in the hornbill family. This black-and-white species is found in humid forest and second growth in Central and West Africa, ranging from Senegal east to Uganda and south to Angola. At about 50 cm (20 in) in length, it is the smallest member of the genus Bycanistes.
The turbo shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland and montane forests.
The Kibira National Park is a national park in northwestern Burundi. Overlapping four provinces and covering 400 km2 (150 sq mi), Kibira National Park lies atop the mountains of the Congo-Nile Divide. It extends north from the provincial town of Muramvya to the border of Rwanda where it is contiguous with the Nyungwe National Park.
Encephalartos villosus is a South African cycad occurring from the East London vicinity, where it is found near the coast, to the northern border of Eswatini (Swaziland) where it may grow as far as 100 km inland. The species is common throughout its range and is the most frequently cultivated in Southern Africa, largely because of its affordable price. As a result of its large geographical distribution, it is notably variable in leaf and cone shape.
