African Grey Hornbill
by kgb224
Open full image in new tab
Zoom on image
Close
Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.
Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
Description
This bird was well hidden so this is one of thos not so great captures.One of my previous bird uploads is a female Violet-Backed (Plumcoloured)Starling and the female of that specific specie.http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=2171911&user_id=424150&np&np.
More of the African Grey Hornbill can be seen here at this link.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Grey_Hornbill.The African Grey Hornbill, Tockus nasutus, is a hornbill. Hornbills are a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World.
The African Grey Hornbill is a widespread and common resident breeder in much of sub-Saharan Africa and into Arabia.
This is a bird mainly of open woodland and savannah. The female lays two to four white eggs in a tree hollow, which is blocked off during incubation with a cement made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, just big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks.
When the chicks and the female are too big to fit in the nest, the mother breaks out and rebuilds the wall, then both parents feed the chicks.
This species is a large bird, at 45cm in length, but is one of the smaller hornbills. It has mainly grey plumage, with the head, flight feathers and long tail being a darker shade. There is a white line down each side of the head and one on the back which is visible only in flight. The long curved bill is black and has a small casque and a creamy horizontal stripe.
The male has a black bill, whereas the female has red on the mandibles. The plumage of the male and female is similar. Immature birds are more uniformly grey. The flight is undulating. The similarly sized Red-billed Hornbill has uniformly grey plumage.
The African Grey Hornbill is omnivorous, taking insects, fruit and reptiles. It feeds mainly in trees.
This conspicuous bird advertises its presence with its piping pee-o pee-o pee-o call.
First time that i saw this bird in my life and I can only share a not so good picture. It is the same tree that all the fruit eating birds visit situated where my wife is working that has that bright orange seeds.
Comments (9)
jayfar
I can just about see it, a difficult capture.
Digitaleagle
Excellent work my friend!
SSoffia
Excellent capture !!!!!
mickeyrony
Do not be too hard with you my friend. Were not always in the right place at the right time ... lol The main thing is to try to get the best. The birds are quite unpredictable as. Anyway ..... Nice work as always ((5 + +)) Il ne faut pas être trop dur avec soi mon ami . Ont est pas toujours à la bonne place et au bon moment lol...Le principal c'est d'essayer de prendre le meilleur . Les oiseaux sont assez imprévisibles comme . Mais bon ..... Joli travail comme toujours ((5++))
Meisiekind
They are not as widely seen as the Yellow and Red Billed Hornbills! In the Kruger they are a bit of a pest! lol...
flora-crassella
a very interesting bird!
tizjezzme
Looks like a very unique bird... definitely not something you'd see around HERE! :)
KarmaSong
The lightplay is fantastic here, a superb image again !
emmecielle
Splendid image! :)