When the day is done, they return to their home tree to roost. Bill care is important, too, and the birds rub their bill and casque frequently across a branch or bark to keep them clean. In between meals, the birds preen themselves and each other and do a bit of sunbathing. Some go off to forage in pairs or small groups while others gather in flocks that may number in the hundreds. But no matter where they live, hornbills are diurnal, often rising with the sun to preen and call to their neighbors before heading off for a meal. Even elephants in Africa and bears in Asia play a part in a hornbill's life by knocking down tree branches and creating perfect hollows for nesting sites.įound in Africa and Southeast Asia, hornbills live in forests, rainforests, or savannas, depending on species. The smallest hornbill, the red-billed dwarf hornbill, follows squirrels and swarms of driver ants to snatch up the insects that are disturbed. Why? 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. Eastern yellow-billed hornbills work with dwarf mongooses to gather food! The mongooses 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 mongooses’ burrow. Hornbills have developed some interesting relationships with other wildlife. The casque of the helmeted hornbill from Borneo is different from all other hornbills: its dense, ivory-like casque makes up about 10 percent of the bird's body weight! Unfortunately, this has made it attractive to some people who kill the birds to use the heavy casques for ornamental carvings. The males of some hornbill varieties even compete by knocking their casques together in mid-flight. This may be because males also use their casque to attract mates and display their health and strength to other males. The bill and casque of juvenile birds are underdeveloped, and females often have a much smaller casque than males have. The calls made by the bird range from deep booming sounds as they begin foraging to brays, toots, bellows, and cackles. It is believed that this structure acts as a vibrating chamber to make the hornbill's voice louder. In most hornbills, the casque is a hollow or spongy structure made out of keratin. Their closest relatives are kingfishers, rollers, and bee-eaters. Females and males often have different colored faces and eyes. This contrasts with the brightly colored neck, face, bill, and casque in many hornbill varieties. Hornbills have a long tail, broad wings, and white and black, brown, or gray feathers. You can easily pick out a hornbill from other birds by a special body part atop their bill called a casque. These birds range from the size of a pigeon to large birds with a 6-foot (1.8 meters) wingspan. I feel pretty: With long eyelashes, dark eyes, and an almost comically large, curved bill, hornbills have many admirers (the eyelashes are modified feathers!).

Rhinoceros hornbill male and female