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Can anyone give me some info on this beautiful bird please? I don't have any proper info on them. (Never been extremely keen birder, that is about to change though)

Is it endagered? I saw masses this weekend in Bots and was wondering because I am sure I heard they are in trouble, but it seemed unlikely as I really saw a lot. Where we stayed we could hear them calling all the time as well and a very keen birder confirmed it was grey hornbill.

I am pretty sure they are doing fine. See them at my house in Pretoria quite often, and lots of them in Kruger. The clever people will probably give you all the info tomorrow

Here are just the most common facts:

Distribution:
Africa S of Sahara, s Arabia; in s Africa absent from most of highveld, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape, s Namibia and treeless Kalahari sandveld; extends S to Petrusburg and Bloemfontein (Orange Free State) in W and n KwaZulu-Natal in E.

Status:
Common resident; some local seasonal movements in Zimbabwe.

Habitat:
Bushveld, savanna, woodland.

Habits:
In pairs when breeding; otherwise gregarious in small groups or large dry-season concentrations of 100 or more birds. Forages in trees, rarely on ground; hawks insects in flight. Flight undulating, buoyant and dextrous; tail raised on alighting. Frequents grassfires. When calling flaps wings and points bill upwards.

Food:
Insects, solifugids, rodents, frogs, chameleons, seeds, fruit, peanuts.

Breeding:
Season: September to December (mainly October-November) in Zimbabwe, February-March in Namibia (after rains), October to November in Transvaal. Nest: Natural hole in tree, lined mainly with bark flakes; 3-4 m above ground; usually with chimney or funkhole above entrance; floor of hole about 10 cm below entrance; minimum size of entrance hole 2,5 cm wide, 3,5 cm high; diameter of nest chamber (20) 15-23,2-32 cm. Clutch: (25) 3-4-5 eggs. Eggs: White; measure (34) 37,4 x 26,9 (33,9-40 x 25-28,3). Incubation: (5) 24-25-26 days by female only. Nestling: (10) 43-45,5-49 days; female breaks out of nest 19-24 days after first egg hatches; nestlings re-seal entrance unaided.

See them quite often in and around PTA, their call sometimes sounds like a small dog making crying noises.

The status according to Redlist.org (assessed 2004) is LC (Least Concern):

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km². The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as 'common' in at least parts of its range (del Hoyo et al. 2001). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

[edit]cleaned up a bit. posted in kind of a hurry this morning.[/edit]

You may be thinking of the Ground Hornbill which is currently threatened, particularly outside protected areas, though one wouldnt believe it, considering how many you see on Kruger roads.

Yours,

w

African Grey Hornbill (Tockus nasutus)

Some info in addition to that already listed by Bosnimf

Other names:
Afrikaans: Grysneushoringvoël
French: Calao à bec noir, Calao nasique, Petit Calao à bec noir
German: Grautoko
Dutch: Grijze Tok

This species is a large bird, at 45cm in length, but is one of the smaller hornbills. It has mainly grey plumage, with the head, flight feathers and long tail being a darker shade. There is a white line down each side of the head and one on the back which is visible only in flight. The long curved bill is black and has a small casque and a creamy horizontal stripe.

Sexes are similar, but the male has a black bill, whereas the female has red on the mandibles. Immature birds are more uniformly grey. The flight is undulating. The similarly sized Red-billed Hornbill has uniformly grey plumage.

This conspicuous bird advertises its presence with its piping pee-o pee-o pee-o call.

If you took photos of this bird please post them here for us to see.

This photo of a Female Grey Hornbill was posted here by elpaco

I will post a male later!

A very attractive hornbill - but not so well known as the yellowbilled as not quite so 'tame' in camps.

Richard

found it already!

Great photos thus far beautifully demonstrating the differences between males and females. I must admit that I never before inspected the birds closely so have not noticed this marked difference between the sexes.

I love Grey Hornbills and see them almost every trip. I know what I thought was everything about them, where to look for them, their call etc and yet like francoisd I have never before noted the distinct difference between male and female. Thanks guys for bringing this up and thanks francoisd for all the good info you have posted

Found this one inside Statara camp in June 2005

Didnt find post on grey hornbill so posted here
Saw a grey hornbill in the middle of Pretoria yesterday!
Would anybody know if they a normally found in the Pretoria area?

Don't know exactly how common they are but do know of quite a few regular sightings in Pretoria and surrounds.

Female

That is a Stunning picture Johann

I saw quite a few of them in shingwedzi this year. Lovely birds.
I am crazy about the yellow billed hornbill too.
Were fortunate to also see a Crowned Hornbill on the Mahonie loop at Punda.

Male

Female

Crowned Hornbill