The western red-billed hornbill (''Tockus kempi'') is a species of

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 ...

in the family Bucerotidae. It is found from Senegal and

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

to southern

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

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 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 ...

Description

Western red-billed hornbills are small hornbills in the genus

Tockus ''Tockus'' is a genus of birds in the hornbill family, Bucerotidae, which are native to Africa. Description Hornbills in the genus ''Tockus'' are medium-sized African birds with triangular shaped curved bills. They can be found in tropical an ...

. They have curved red beaks which are more orange on the lower beak and more bright red on the upper beak, with both ending with a dark orange colour. Their heads are greyish white and have black feathers along the back of their heads and neck. They have white plumage on their faces and large dark grey eye rings. Their

sclera The sclera, also known as the white of the eye or, in older literature, as the tunica albuginea oculi, is the opaque, fibrous, protective, outer layer of the human eye containing mainly collagen and some crucial elastic fiber. In humans, and som ...

is dark brown and their pupils are black. Their wings are like all red-billed hornbills, with large and small circles of white feathers surrounded by black feathers on the exterior and white on the upper half of the interior and black on the lower half of the interior. They have long tail feathers that are black on the exterior and a greyish white on the interior.

Gallery

Western red-billed hornbill (Tockus kempi) male 2.jpg, male, The Gambia Tockus_kempi_at_nest,_Gambia.jpg, Male at a nest entrance in The Gambia

References

*Kemp, A.C. and W. Delport. 2002. Comments on the status of subspecies in the red-billed hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) complex (Aves: Bucerotidae), with the description of a new taxon endemic to Tanzania. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 39: 1–8. *Delport, W., A.C. Kemp, and J.W.H. Ferguson. 2004. Structure of an African Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus rufirostris and T. e. damarensis) hybrid zone as revealed by morphology, behavior, and breeding biology. Auk 121: 565–586.

western red-billed hornbill The western red-billed hornbill (''Tockus kempi'') 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 recognize ...

Birds of West Africa

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