African Gray Hornbill
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The African grey hornbill (''Lophoceros nasutus'') is a member of the
hornbill Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family (biology), family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a Casque (an ...
family of mainly tropical
near-passerine Near passerines and higher land-bird assemblage are terms of traditional, pre- cladistic taxonomy that have often been given to tree-dwelling birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines (order Passeriformes) owing t ...
birds found in the
Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
. It is a widespread resident breeder in much of
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
and the southwest of the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
. 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.


Taxonomy

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the African grey hornbill in the fourth volume of his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name ''Le calao à bec noir du Sénégal'' and the Latin name ''Hydrocorax Senegalensis Melanorynchos''.binomial system The binomial system ( es, Sistema binominal) is a voting system that was used in the legislative elections of Chile between 1989 and 2013. From an electoral system point of view, the binomial system is in effect the D'Hondt method with an ope ...
and are not recognized by the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...
. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''
Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...
'' for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson in his ''Ornithologie''. Linnaeus included a terse description of the African grey hornbill, placed it with the other hornbills in the genus '' Buceros'' and coined the
binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Buceros nasutus''. The African grey hornbill is now placed in the genus ''
Lophoceros ''Lophoceros'' is a genus of birds in the hornbill family, Bucerotidae, which are native to Africa. Taxonomy The genus ''Lophoceros'' was introduced in 1833 by the German naturalists Wilhelm Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg to acc ...
'' that was introduced in 1833 by two German naturalists,
Wilhelm Hemprich Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich (24 June 1796 – 30 June 1825) was a German naturalist and explorer. Hemprich was born in Glatz (Kłodzko), Prussian Silesia, and studied medicine at Breslau and Berlin. It was in Berlin that he became friends with ...
and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. This genus was resurrected in 2013 to contain a group of hornbills that had previously been placed in the genus '' Tockus''. The genus name ''Lophoceros'' combines the Ancient Greek ''lophos'' meaning "crest" with ''kerōs'' meaning "horn". The specific epithet ''nasutus'' is from Latin and means "large-nosed". Two
subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are recognized: * ''L. n. nasutus'' ( Linnaeus, 1766) — Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia, central Kenya, and southwest Arabia * ''L. n. epirhinus'' (
Sundevall Carl Jakob Sundevall (22 October 1801, Högestad – 2 February 1875) was a Swedish zoologist. Sundevall studied at Lund University, where he became a Ph.D. in 1823. After traveling to East Asia, he studied medicine, graduating as Doctor of Med ...
, 1850) — south Uganda and south Kenya to northern South Africa


Description

left, 220px, Juvenile bird (''L. n. epirhinus'') in the Kruger National Park, which lacks the mature bill shape and colours of adults At in length, the African grey hornbill is a large bird, although it is one of the smaller
hornbill Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family (biology), family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a Casque (an ...
s. Its plumage is grey and brown, with the head, flight feathers and long tail being of a darker shade. There is a white line down each side of the crown and another down the back which is only visible in flight. Their long curved bills feature a small casque along the upper culmen, which is more prominent in males than females. A dark upper mandible with creamy-yellow mark or horizontal stripe is diagnostic of males, whereas females have tricoloured, red-tipped mandibles. The plumage of the male and female is similar. That of juveniles doesn't differ much from adults, but their bills are initially uniformly blackish. The flight is undulating. The similarly sized red-billed hornbills occur in similar savannah habitats but have pied plumage. This conspicuous bird advertises its presence with a piping ''pee-o pee-o pee-o'' call.


Distribution and habitat

African grey hornbill is widespread over much of
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
. It prefers open woodland and savannah.


Behaviour and ecology


Breeding

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 large enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks. When the chicks and female outgrow the nest, the mother breaks out and rebuilds the wall, after which both parents feed the chicks.


Food and feeding

The African grey hornbill is omnivorous, taking insects, fruit and reptiles. It feeds mainly in trees.


Gallery

African Grey Hornbill (Tockus nasutus) male (11477408666).jpg, ''L. n. epirhinus'', adult male, which has a tubular and forwards-protruding casque African Grey Hornbill (Tockus nasutus) - Flickr - Lip Kee.jpg, Male of the nominate race in the central Serengeti, with a ridge-like casque Tockus nasutus -near Sawela Lodge, Lake Naivasha, Kenya -female-8.jpg, ''L. n. nasutus'', adult female at Lake Naivasha, Kenya, with the diagnostic tricoloured bill African grey hornbill (Tockus nasutus nasutus) immature.jpg, ''L. n. nasatus'', juv. female in Ethiopia


References


External links


(African) Grey Hornbill species text
in The Atlas of Southern African Birds {{Taxonbar, from=Q27074817 Birds described in 1766 Birds of Africa Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Birds of the Middle East Lophoceros Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus