Crowned Hornbill

This African Crowned Hornbill is about fifty centimetres in size, with a black head, a black back and a white belly. It carries, like all hornbills, a big red beak, with a small casque of the same colour on top of it.

It lives in coastal forests and along waterways, feeding on insects which it often catches in flight, but also on small reptiles and bird-chicks; wild fruit are also part of its diet.

As with most hornbills, when reproduction season starts, the female is literally imprisoned in a tree-cavity, the entrance to which is sealed by the couple - except for a small opening - by means of solid coating like plaster.

The female depends completely upon the male during the two months incubating the clutch and raising the young. Once the fledglings get too big, she leaves her “prison” and both parents continue to feed the young.