Species group · Birds

Hornbills

WAnimals has 8 species of hornbill, all in the family Bucerotidae.

8 species
1 family
62 countries
97 parks
Weight
128 g – 4.4 kg
Length
42 cm – 1.3 m
Lifespan
20 – 50 years

Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 8.

All 8 species of hornbills on WAnimals

Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

5 Vulnerable2 Least Concern1 Critically Endangered

6 especies in this group están en alguna categoría de riesgo real según la UICN.

See the global conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 62 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Where to see them

Did you know…

  • The female seals herself into the nest cavity with mud and droppings, leaving only a narrow slit through which the male passes her food while she incubates.

    From Rhinoceros Hornbill

  • It paints its own casque: the orange and red is not its own pigment but the secretion of the preen gland, which the bird rubs against the casque until it is stained, and a poorly preserved museum specimen loses that colour.

    From Rhinoceros Hornbill

  • Like all Asian hornbills, the female walls herself into the nest hole for months, sealing the entrance and depending entirely on the male.

    From Rhinoceros Hornbill

  • Unlike other hornbills, its casque is solid keratin, and males use it to butt heads in mid-air during territorial disputes.

    From Helmeted Hornbill

  • Its solid casque is what is known as hornbill ivory, and on the Asian black market it fetches more than elephant ivory: that demand has caused a collapse so rapid that in 2015 the species jumped straight from Near Threatened to Critically Endangered.

    From Helmeted Hornbill

  • The males fight by colliding casque-first in mid-flight, an impact that carries a long way through the forest and that no other bird in the world performs.

    From Helmeted Hornbill

  • The male walls the female into a tree hollow with mud and feeds her for months.

    From Great Hornbill

  • The female shuts herself inside a tree hollow and walls up the entrance with her own droppings, leaving only a slit through which the male feeds her throughout the incubation.

    From Great Hornbill

Ecosystems

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