Tockus flavirostris Eastern Yellow Billed Hornbill Class: Aves. Order: Coraciiformes. Family: Bucerotidae. Other names: Nicknamed, “flying banana” because of its beak

Physical Description: Eastern yellow billed hornbills have black wings with white spotted wing-coverts. They have a black tail and large yellow beak with slight casque. They have black, bare skin around the eye and males have a pink skinned throat. They grow up to 16-18” in length and weigh up 6 to 10 ounces.

Diet in the Wild: seeds, small insects, spiders, scorpions, termites and ants

Diet at the Zoo: pinkie mice, apples, papayas, grapes, hard-boiled eggs, mealworms, softbill diet

Habitat & Range: North-eastern Africa, they live in dry thorn fields, broad-leafed woodlands, forests, savannahs, and shrublands

Life Span: various sources estimate from 20-40 years in the wild, 50 in captivity.

Perils in the wild: Crowned eagles, leopards, chimpanzees, humans, habitat destruction

Physical Adaptations:  Strong beak to crack seeds, and find insects  Hornbills have huge, two-tiered beaks that cause the birds to appear top-heavy. The bill is long forming dexterous forceps. The cutting edges are serrated for breaking up food.  The casque surmounting the bill is a narrow ridge that may reinforce the upper mandible. In spite of its heavy appearance, the structure is a light skin of keratin overlying a bony support. The beak itself is honeycombed with air chambers, making it as light as a sponge. The casque possibly serves as a means of visual recognition but may be used in amplifying calls, in fighting, or to knock down fruit.  The hornbill is one of the few birds that have eyelashes to shield them from sun, dust, and debris. There eyelashes are actually modified feathers.  Stocky body has air sacs under the skin over the back and shoulder area which may cushion the female from injury in her cramped nest  The tail is used as a rudder in flight. It also serves as a prop, bracing the male while he clings to the nest-hole entrance.  Strong feet provide a secure grip, particularly for the male as he perches to feed his mate through the slit in the nest hole.  Only bird group (hornbills) in which the first two neck vertebrae are fused to support the skull

Behavioral Adaptations:  Diurnal 09/04/2012

 Live in pairs or small groups  They have a distinct clucking call, to signal other yellow billed hornbills  Hornbills have been known to wipe their food back and forth over a perch or along the ground to clean the item of unwanted coverings, like hairy caterpillars, slimy toads, or juicy fruits.

Reproduction and Development:  Nesting hornbills are monogamous, and their nesting habits are unique. Natural cavities are used.  Two to six dull white eggs are laid at considerable intervals in any suitable hollow in a tree. Incubation for hornbills in general requires around 24 days.  The female seals herself inside the nest, leaving only a narrow vertical slit through which the male will feed her and the young and through which she will forcibly expel droppings. At first she uses mud (while working from the outside) and later her own droppings mixed with food remains and feathers. In some species the male assists by bringing lumps of mud or sticky foods. The female undergoes a molt of all her flight and tail feathers at the time of egg laying. These are re-grown by the time she emerges from the nest. The incubation period is quite lengthy, and the young mature slowly. Her mate brings her food as often as 10-20 times a day.  When the chicks are about half grown, the female breaks out of the nest and helps the male to feed the nestlings. The nestlings need an insect each, every 10 minutes. The male needs help from his mate to provide sufficient food for their brood. In order to protect themselves from predators, as soon as the female leaves, young grey hornbills once again seal up the nest, breaking their way out only when they are ready to fledge.  Throat inflates while breeding

Additional Information:  Yellow-billed hornbills have a cooperative partnership with dwarf mongooses. The mongooses will wait for the hornbills to arrive before setting out; if the hornbills arrive before the mongooses are up and about, the birds call down the burrow to them. The hornbills benefit by eating all the insects stirred up by the foraging mongooses, and the mongooses gain extra eyes and ears to look out for danger. The companionship allows the mongooses to forage in peace, while the birds benefit from creatures flushed out by the mongooses. The hornbills sound off with warning calls when a predator approaches, even warning at the sight of predators of mongooses that are not enemies of hornbills.  Resembles the Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, but has blackish (not pinkish) skin around the eyes.  The Eastern Yellow-Billed Hornbill, formerly known as the Northern Yellow-Billed Hornbill, is one of the more uncommon hornbills.

Conservation Status: (IUCN Status) Least Concern

Conservation Efforts: Currently not endangered, habitat loss is their main concern.

Sources:  Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens  Encyclopedia  http://switchzoo.com/profiles/yellow-billedhornbill.htm  http://animals.jrank.org/pages/3067/Mongooses-Fossa-Herpestidae-HABITAT.html  The Encyclopedia of Birds, Volume 1 pp 898-899

09/04/2012