This is such an interesting and one of my most favourite birds. Why do I like it? I don´t know, maybe it is its unique appearance – including its grumpy look which I can´t get enough of -, its famous call and special breeding and display behaviour.
These two I found in the Kruger National Park. One had caught a big worm but wasn´t quite keen to share it 🙂
Did you know?
Its Zulu name “Umkolwana” means “the little believer” as this bird sits on trees with their heads up, facing the sky as if something is in there. The yellow-billed hornbill is a symbol of faith and the bird of optimism that says “all shall come right in the end” because iven in the biggest drought, the Umkolwana´s beak is never facing earthwards, it is always facing upwards because it believes in a better tomorrow.
Yellow-Billed Hornbills are known to cooperate with mongoose, especially dwarf mongoose. The hornbills benefit from startled insects, the mongoose benefit from additional vigilance. The hornbill is obviously also alarming for raptors, even that raptors are not really predators for themselves. It has been observed that some impatient hornbills even show up early mornings to wake up the mongoose if they take to long to come out.
Some call them “flying banana“, due to their long yellow, curved bills.
Wanna know more about it? Read the full abstract HERE.
Good night,
Sininho
Sininho´s World 
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