THE crowned hornbill is found from Port Elizabeth, along the east coast of KZN and all of Mozambique and the eastern lowveld of SA.
They are common residents that inhabit dense, dry thorn thickets, savanna, dense woodlands and forest edges.
Usually found in groups of two to five birds, the crowned hornbill flies slowly with an agile, pronounced dip after every few wingbeats.
They twist and tumble just before alighting. They forage in trees and hawk insects in flight, feeding mainly on fruit, often chameleons, small birds and seeds.
It roosts communally on slender branches exposed from above. Pairs usually mate for life.
The breeding season is October and November. They lay two to five white eggs in a nest that is a hole in a tree or rock face.
The nest entrance is sealed to form a vertical slit and can be between two and 14-metres above ground.
Incubation is 25 to 30 days, with the female only sitting on the eggs. Nestlings remain for 23 to 34 days after the female leaves them, and plasters the entrance, leaving only a hole through which food is passed.
The young remain in the parents’ territory for six to eight months.
The crowned hornbill’s Zulu name is umKhozlwane and in Afrikaans it is known as gekroonde neushoringvoel.
