Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri; formerly known as Bucorvus cafer)
Masai Mara National Reserve
Kenya
East Africa
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A Southern Ground Hornbill out foraging for food in the short grass. The image shows a toad in it's mouth, and as they forage they will spear an insect or small animal and then when it finds something else it will lay the first prey down and then pick it up along with the new catch. Sometimes you can see them carrying several items at a time.
Wikipedia-
The southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri; formerly known as Bucorvus cafer), is one of two species of ground hornbill and is the largest species of hornbill. The other species of the genus Bucorvus is the Abyssinian ground hornbill, (B. abyssinicus).
Southern ground hornbills can be found from northern Namibia and Angola to northern South Africa to Burundi and Kenya. They require a savanna habitat with large trees for nesting and dense but short grass for foraging.
The southern ground hornbill is a vulnerable species, mainly confined to national reserves and national parks. They live in groups of 5 to 10 individuals including adults and juveniles. Often, neighbouring groups are engaged in aerial pursuits. They forage on the ground, where they feed on reptiles, frogs, snails, insects and mammals up to the size of hares. Southern ground hornbills very rarely drink.
Southern ground hornbill groups are very vocal: contact is made by calls in chorus which can usually be heard at great distances. The calls allow each group to maintain its territories, which must be as large as 100 square
kilometres (40 sq mi) even in the best habitat.
Owing to large scale clearing of the bird’s specialised habitat for agriculture, along with its exceedingly slow reproductive rate, the southern ground hornbill is classed as vulnerable to extinction; however, in South Africa, where most studies on the species have been carried out, it is listed as critically endangered.
Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri; formerly known as Bucorvus cafer)
Masai Mara National Reserve
Kenya
East Africa
Best Viewed In Lightbox-
www.flickr.com/photos/42964440@N08/39032495770/in/photost...
A Southern Ground Hornbill out foraging for food in the short grass. The image shows a toad in it's mouth, and as they forage they will spear an insect or small animal and then when it finds something else it will lay the first prey down and then pick it up along with the new catch. Sometimes you can see them carrying several items at a time.
Wikipedia-
The southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri; formerly known as Bucorvus cafer), is one of two species of ground hornbill and is the largest species of hornbill. The other species of the genus Bucorvus is the Abyssinian ground hornbill, (B. abyssinicus).
Southern ground hornbills can be found from northern Namibia and Angola to northern South Africa to Burundi and Kenya. They require a savanna habitat with large trees for nesting and dense but short grass for foraging.
The southern ground hornbill is a vulnerable species, mainly confined to national reserves and national parks. They live in groups of 5 to 10 individuals including adults and juveniles. Often, neighbouring groups are engaged in aerial pursuits. They forage on the ground, where they feed on reptiles, frogs, snails, insects and mammals up to the size of hares. Southern ground hornbills very rarely drink.
Southern ground hornbill groups are very vocal: contact is made by calls in chorus which can usually be heard at great distances. The calls allow each group to maintain its territories, which must be as large as 100 square
kilometres (40 sq mi) even in the best habitat.
Owing to large scale clearing of the bird’s specialised habitat for agriculture, along with its exceedingly slow reproductive rate, the southern ground hornbill is classed as vulnerable to extinction; however, in South Africa, where most studies on the species have been carried out, it is listed as critically endangered.