Abyssinian ground hornbill

The Abyssinian ground hornbill or northern ground

hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) is an African bird, found
north of the equator, and is one of two species of ground
hornbill. The other is the slightly larger southern ground
hornbill; the two are the largest species of hornbills found
in Africa.

1 Description
Abyssinian ground hornbill is a large, terrestrial horn-
bill with black body feathers and white primary feathers
which are visible in ight. The adult male has a patch of
bare blue skin around the eye and an inatable patch of
bare skin on the neck and throat which is red, apart from
the upper throat which is blue. The bill is long and black require large trees to be used as nest sites.[5]
except for a reddish patch at the base of the mandible. On
top of the bill there is a short open-ended black casque.
The female is similar but smaller with any bare skin be- 4 Distribution
ing wholly dark blue. Juvenile birds are dark sooty-brown
with a smaller bill, with an incipient casque. As the ju-
The Abyssinian ground hornbill is found in Northern sub-
venile matures, which usually takes 3 years, it gradually
Saharan Africa from southern Mauritania, Senegal and
develops the plumage, bare skin colour and casque of the
Guinea east to Eritrea, Ethiopia, north western Somalia,
adults. The total length is 90 to 110 cm (35 to 43 in).[2]
north western Kenya and Uganda.[6]
It reportedly averages around 90 to 100 cm (35 to 39 in)
The Abyssinian ground hornbill has escaped or been de-
tall, around 110 cm (43 in) and weighs approximately 4
liberately released in to Florida, USA, but there is no evi-
kg (8.8 lb). Per Stevenson and Fanshawe, the Abyssinian
dence that the population is breeding and may only persist
is a larger species on average than the southern ground
due to continuing releases or escapes.[7]
hornbill, at 102 cm (40 in), but published weights and
standard measurements contrarily indicate the southern
species is indeed slightly larger.[3][4]
5 Habits

2 Voice The Abyssinian ground hornbill lives in open grassland,

in pairs or small family parties. The patrol their territory
by walking and are reluctant iers, usually only taking to
A deep booming uh-uh, uh-uh-uh which is far carrying the air when alarmed.[2] In captivity, they can live 35
and is normally made at dawn from either a perch or from 40 years. Diet in the wild consists of a wide variety of
the ground.[2] The male and female sing in duets.[5] small vertebrates and invertebrates, including tortoises,
lizards, spiders, beetles, and caterpillars; they also take
carrion, some fruits, seeds, and groundnuts. Groups of
3 Habitat ground hornbills have territories of 2100 square miles
(5.2259.0 km2 ). They are diurnal.
The Abyssinian ground hornbill is found in open habitats The breeding season of the Abyssinian ground hornbill
such as savanna, sub-desert scrub, and rocky areas, pre- varies across its range: the West African populations
ferring short vegetation which enables its visual foraging breed in June through to August, Nigerian and Ugandan
technique. The areas inhabited by this species are usu- populations breed in January, and Kenyan birds breed as
ally drier areas than the preferred habitat of the Southern late as November. They prefer to nest in large trees, with
ground hornbill. It will tolerate disturbed areas but does baobabs and palm stumps being preferred; the nest is con-

1
2 8 CONSERVATION

structed in a cavity. They have also been recorded nest- hydrophila, a common pathogen in sh but not previously
ing in other types of cavities including holes in rocks and recorded in wild Abyssinian ground hornbills. In North
man-made cavities such as bee-hive logs or baskets. In America captive Abyssinian ground hornbills have also
the ground hornbills the females are partially sealed in us- been known to die because of West Nile Virus.[5]
ing a mixture of mud and vegetation. In other hornbills
the nesting female moult their all ight feathers at once
but this is not the case in the ground hornbills. The male
prepares the nest by lining the cavity with dry leaves be- 7 Cultural importance
fore the female enters and lays a clutch of one or two eggs
over around ve days. She starts to incubate as soon as Abyssinian ground hornbills are not a normal quarry for
the rst egg is laid so that the chick which hatches rst has commercial hunters, although they are not uncommon in
a head start in development over its sibling. Incubation captivity in zoos. In some areas the species has cultural
of each egg takes between 37 and 41 days, during which signicance and hunters may tie the severed head and
time there is no eort to keep the cavity clean and the neck of these birds around their necks in the belief that it
male is responsible for providing food to the incubating helps them stalk their wild ungulate quarry. In some vil-
female. The weight of the newly hatched chick is around lages the call is often imitated and there are even entire
70 g (2.5 oz) and the rst-hatched grows rapidly at the songs based on the male and female duets of Abyssinian
expense of the second, which will normally die of star- ground hornbills.[5]
vation before it is four days old by which time its sibling
can weigh as much as 350 g (12 oz). When the surviving
chick is 21 to 33 days old the mother leaves the nest and
starts to help in food provision, then after 80 to 90 days 8 Conservation
the chick leaves the nest.[5]
Abyssinian ground hornbills invest a lot in their ospring The Abyssinian ground hornbill does not approach the
and the edged juveniles will remain with their parents thresholds to be classied as it has an extremely large
for up to three years. They have a slow breeding rate and range but the population size has not been quantied, al-
an average of one chick is raised to adulthood every 9 though it is not thought that it approaches the thresholds
years so the adults investment in each young bird raised for being classied as Vulnerable and for these reasons
is exceptionally high.[5] the species is evaluated as Least Concern.[8]
Abyssinian ground hornbills are opportunist feeders, fol-
lowing ungulate herds and forest res so that they can
prey on small animals disturbed by the larger animals or
ames. An individual hornbill can walk up to 11 km (6.8
mi) in a day, pouncing on and eating animals they come
across. They have also been recorded digging for arthro-
pods in the soil and attacking bee hives for honeycomb;
A pair at Fort Worth Zoo
they very rarely consume any plant matter. The strong
bill is used to capture and overcome the prey before it is
eaten.[5]

6 Predators, parasites and diseases

Abyssinian ground hornbills are preyed on by large car-

nivores, such as leopards. Human predation for food oc- Female Abyssinian Ground-
curs in some countries, including northern Cameroon and hornbill in Murchison Falls National Park
Burkina Faso. The nests may be preyed upon by smaller
terrestrial predators.
The Abyssinian ground hornbill is a known host for
the bird lice Bucorvellus docophorus, Bucerophagus
productus and Bucerophagus africanus; it is also a
host for the nematode Histiocephalus bucorvi and the
tapeworms Chapmania unilateralis, Idiogenes bucorvi, The species has long eye-
Ophryocotyloides pinguis, and Paruterina daouensis. An lashes as seen on this female identied by a blue
individual held in captivity but which had been caught in throat pouch.
the wild died from an infection of the bacteria Aeromonas
 3

Egg of Bucorvus abyssinicus

MHNT

9 References
[1] BirdLife International (2012). "Bucorvus abyssinicus".
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2.
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Re-
trieved 26 November 2013.

[2] Borrow, Nik; Demey, Ron (2001). Birds of Western

Africa. A & C Black. ISBN 0-7136-3959-8.

[3] Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania,

Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi by Stevenson & Fanshawe. El-
sevier Science (2001), ISBN 978-0856610790

[4] Birds: Hornbill. San Diego Zoo. Retrieved 16 July

2013.

[5] Krause, B. 2009. Bucorvus abyssinicus (On-line), An-

imal Diversity Web. Animal Diversity Web. Regents of
the University of Michigan. Retrieved 14 October 2016.

[6] Northern Ground-hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus)".

Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 14 October 2016.

[7] Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill. Florida Fish and Wildlife

Conservation Commission. Retrieved 9 January 2017.

[8] "Bucorvus abyssinicus (Abyssinian Ground Hornbill,

Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill, Northern Ground-
hornbill)". International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources. Retrieved 14 October
2016.
4 10 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

10 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

10.1 Text
Abyssinian ground hornbill Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abyssinian_ground_hornbill?oldid=783879336 Contributors: William
Avery, Shyamal, Topbanana, Smallweed, Leonard G., Xezbeth, Mwng, Bender235, Hesperian, Kurt Shaped Box, Dave.Dunford, SP-KP,
Eubot, Gdrbot, Conscious, Dysmorodrepanis~enwiki, Snowmanradio, Beastie Bot, Cydebot, Alaibot, Headbomb, Dr. Blofeld, Maias, .ana-
condabot, Nyq, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Charlesjsharp, STBotD, Idioma-bot, Sandhillcrane, 4444hhhh, Orlica, Alexbot, SchreiberBike,
Addbot, Yobot, Obersachsebot, Xqbot, Archaeodontosaurus, BenzolBot, Ypna, Tom.Reding, EmausBot, John of Reading, Eekerz, Men-
tibot, ChuispastonBot, Floatjon, Keitsist, Phong phaothu, Thegreatgrabber, Quetzal1964, RotlinkBot, Bartkauz, Couiros22, Ambrosia10,
Jameel the Saluki, Llammakey, Narky Blert, InternetArchiveBot, FalcoTheFirst, Magic links bot and Anonymous: 13

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