The southern yellow-billed hornbill is a hornbill found in southern Africa. Yellow-billed hornbills feed mainly on the ground, where they forage for seeds, small insects, spiders and scorpions. This hornbill species is a common and widespread resident of dry thornveldt and broad-leafed woodlands. They can often be seen along roads and water courses.
Region
Southern Africa
Typical Environment
Occurs widely in arid and semi-arid savannas, thornveld, and broad-leaved (often mopane) woodlands. Frequently follows roads, visits watercourses, and uses open scrub with scattered trees. It is common in protected areas and human-modified landscapes such as campsites where ground foraging is easy. Avoids dense forests and very wet habitats. Nests in natural tree cavities within its dry woodland range.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Arid
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
The southern yellow-billed hornbill often forages on the ground and is famous for its bold, road- and camp-side habits in southern Africa. Females seal themselves inside a tree cavity with mud and droppings during nesting, leaving only a narrow slit through which the male feeds them and the chicks. They sometimes form mutualistic foraging associations with dwarf mongooses, acting as lookouts while both species feed.
Adult female in Mapungubwe National Park, South Africa. She has a shorter bill, with shorter casque, than the male.
Temperament
confident and inquisitive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief glides
Social Behavior
Usually seen in pairs or small family groups and loosely associates with mixed-species foraging parties. Monogamous; nests in tree cavities where the female seals herself in, relying on the male to deliver food. After chicks hatch, the seal is broken and both parents continue to feed the brood.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations include clucking series, cackles, and nasal whistles that carry well through open savanna. Calls often accelerate into a chattering sequence during pair contact and territorial displays.
Plumage
Black-and-white mottled wings and back with a white belly and flanks; grey neck and face with some bare pinkish skin. Tail is black with conspicuous white outer feathers. Plumage appears boldly spotted on the wing coverts.
Diet
Forages mainly on the ground for insects, termites, beetles, spiders, and scorpions, often beating larger prey before swallowing. Also eats seeds, fruits, and occasional small vertebrates or carrion scraps. Around people it readily picks crumbs and small food items.
Preferred Environment
Open ground beneath trees and shrubs, road verges, picnic sites, and the edges of watercourses. Often searches leaf litter and bare soil, moving methodically with short hops.
