The yellow-casqued hornbill (''Ceratogymna elata''), also known as the yellow-casqued wattled hornbill, is found in the

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

of coastal regions of West Africa, for example in

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. The yellow-casqued hornbill is one of the largest birds of the West African forest, with adults weighing up to . They live mainly in the forest canopy, rarely feeding on the ground. They live in small family groups containing at least one adult male and female, with one or two immature birds, though they sometimes gather in larger flocks to exploit a major food supply such as an ant or termite nest. The birds are occasionally preyed upon by

crowned hawk-eagle The crowned eagle, also known as the African crowned eagle or the crowned hawk-eagle (''Stephanoaetus coronatus''), is a large bird of prey found in sub-Saharan Africa; in Southern Africa it is restricted to eastern areas.Sinclair & Ryan (2003 ...

s, and they respond to the presence of an eagle (sometimes indicated by its characteristic shriek) by mobbing – approaching it and emitting calls. Since the eagles depend on surprise to make a catch, this frequently causes them to leave the area. Recent research (Rainey et al., 2004) has shown that the birds respond in the same way to the alarm calls that

Diana monkey The Diana monkey (''Cercopithecus diana'') is an Old World monkey found in the high canopy forests in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and western Côte d’Ivoire. Named for its white brow which is said to resemble the bow of the Roman goddess Diana, thi ...

s, which live in the same areas, emit if they notice an eagle, and that they can distinguish the calls made by the monkeys in the presence of eagles from those they make in the presence of

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

s, which prey on the monkeys but not on the hornbills.

References

* Rainey, H. J., Zuberbühler, K., & Slater, P. J. B. (2004). Hornbills can distinguish between primate alarm calls. ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'' Series B, 271, 755–759. {{Taxonbar, from=Q852440

yellow-casqued hornbill The yellow-casqued hornbill (''Ceratogymna elata''), also known as the yellow-casqued wattled hornbill, is found in the rainforest of coastal regions of West Africa, for example in Côte d'Ivoire. The yellow-casqued hornbill is one of the larges ...

Birds of West Africa