UGANDA BIRDING SAFARI GUIDE
The African Pied Hornbill
Planning a Uganda Birding Safari...? Get ready to meet the African Pied Hornbill.
The information about African Pied Hornbills in this section of the Uganda Birding Safari guide will help get the most out of your Bird watching tour to Africa.
You will find
- How to Identify the African Pied Hornbills in Uganda
- Where to find them and
- Interesting facts about these Uganda birds
How to Identify the African Pied Hornbill
Hornbills are largely found in woodlands.
The African pied hornbill Tockus fasciatus (one of the species of woodland hornbills) is a medium sized black and white hornbill markedly pied with a pale yellow bill tipped reddish-black.
Adult males have a slightly larger casque than adult females and they are about 55cm.
The immature birds also have a smaller casque with a plain yellow bill.
This is the most common forest hornbill in Uganda i.e. primary and secondary forest from 700-1200m.
They are primarily arboreal but agile and will drop to the ground to feed.
Their flight is swooping and buoyant revealing white stripes inset from black outer-tail.
Where to find them?
You will be able to see these birds in Entebbe Botanical Garden where they are residents and also common in Kibale National park, Budongo and Mabira forest.
In their habitats, you can find them either in pairs or small groups often encountered slowly working through the forest canopy.
They also exploit open areas especially those with fruiting trees.
Did you know this?
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Hornbills are very interesting creatures especially what they display during their dramatic courtship. They have loud piping calls and a high squealed series of kwi-kwi-kwi-kwi-kwikwikwikwi... that accelerates in the middle. They rock on perches, point their bills skywards and flick open their wings. What a sight to see if you find them in courtship! |
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