Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill

In June 2018 we were driving into Hwange NP in Zimbabwe, Africa and Judy spotted a large black bird with red on its neck and head moving along the ground some distance from the dirt road we were on. It was a southern ground-hornbill. We got a poor, out-of-focus, photo. Our driver told us it was very uncommon to see one. On the way back out of Hwange we saw another southern ground-hornbill off the side of the road that went into the bushes. I have wished for a better photo of it all these years. 

When I learned that Kidepo Valley NP in Uganda had Abyssinian ground-hornbills that instantly became a bird I wanted to see. 

We were in Murchison Falls NP eating breakfast at the Pakuba Lodge and I heard a visitor say that there was an Abyssinian ground-hornbill just off the grounds outside. I grabbed my camera which was with me and got a poor long-range photo. After breakfast, as we left the lodge, I got a little closer and a little better photo. 

Male Abyssinian ground-hornbill in Murchison Falls NP near Pakuba Lodge.

We started out from Pakuba on our first game drive and had been going awhile when William, our guide, got word that a lion had been spotted. I don't remember the word which was said, apparently it was the sector where the lion was spotted, but I knew instantly what it was and our driver was rushing forward to get us into that fray. However, as we were rushing along a large male and female Abyssinian ground-hornbill were on the road. I insisted we stop so that I could get photos - the lion could wait a minute. We did get to the lion, and got a view and some photos, but I told William, our driver, that the ground-bill sighting was the A+, not the lion. 

A male.

A female.

An adolescent.

An Abyssinian ground-hornbill male illustration from Birds of the World.

Illustration of a female from Birds of the World.

It is black with white primary feathers that are visible in flight. The adult male has a patch of bare blue skin around the eye and an inflatable patch of bare skin on the neck and throat which is red,  except for the upper throat that is blue. The bill is black except for a red patch at the base of the upper mandible. On top of the bill is a short, open-ended casque that is also black. It also has long feathers that look like eyelashes that surround the eyes. They protect it from injury from dust, etc. The female is similar, but smaller, and any bare skin is dark blue. Juveniles are dark brown with a smaller bill and a casque just beginning to develop. It takes about three years for a juvenile to mature and it takes awhile to develop the casque, the bare skin color and the plumage. 

The patch of skin on the neck and throat is inflated and the blue immediately under the bill is evident. The casque looks like a nose on a skeleton and the eyes, casque and bill look like they are strapped on the a head with the back of the head and hair showing. 

This view looks like a plague doctor costume from the Middle Ages, or an alien. It is seriously a scary face. 

The female has the puffed out head and neck, it is just not as colorful (or as large). 

A close-up of this juvenile is scary. 

A range map from Birds of the World. It is found across a broad band of sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Mauritania  east to Ethiopia, Somalia and northern Kenya.  

It is a ground feeder and can walk large distances to feed. It will eat snakes, including the poisonous puff adder, lizards, tortoises and other amphibians. It has also been documented feeding on small birds, such as francolins, and small mammals such as hares and squirrels. Also lots of spiders, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, fruits, seeds and ground nuts.  

Abyssinian ground-hornbills seen in Kidepo Valley NP. We saw enough of them that we no longer stopped to photograph them. 

Black and White Casqued Hornbill

We stayed two nights at the Nkima Forest Lodge on a wooded hill above the Mabamba Swamp on Lake Victoria southwest of Entebbe, Uganda. One of the most fun parts of the stay were a male and female black and white casqued hornbill that were in the trees around the lodge. Unlike most other hornbills I've seen, which were fleeting glimpses at some distance, these hornbills were close, unafraid, huge, loud and I saw them on multiple occasions in different trees and flying. 

A female and male. This photo, and the next one, were taken by my granddaughter, and better than the ones I took. 

It has quite a range. This range map is from Birds of the World. 

Birds of the World opines that it is best treated as a monotype, but states that there are tentatively two subspecies, Bycanistes subcylindricus subcylindricus and B. s. subquadratus. Subcylindricus is a West African bird, found in Sierra Leone, northeast Liberia and Ivory Coast to western Nigeria to the delta of the Niger River. Subquadratus is found to the east, from Nigeria, east of the Niger River, Cameroon, Central African Republic, east to South Sudan and south to north and east Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, southwestern Kenya, northwestern Tanzania and northeastern Angola. 

Male subcylindricus from Birds of the World.

Female subcylindricus.

Male subquadratus.

It is a black hornbill with a white rump, tail-coverts and belly, broad white trailing edges to wings, white-tipped outer tail feathers and gray-tipped feathers on the face.  The female's casque is much smaller than the male's. The male's casque is dark brown, broad at the base, then narrower and flattened as it rises, and projects forward. The illustrations show that the sides are wrinkled, which is harder to see in the photos. I spent time looking at the male's casque and trying to figure it out. In the early morning the sun would reflect through the lighter part of the casque which touches upon the forehead and it glowed. Some of my photos reflect that. I was very intrigued by it. A San Diego Zoo article on hornbills indicates that the casque is made out of keratin and is hollow or spongy. My guess is that the back portion of the male's casque is hollow. It may act as a sounding board to make the hornbill's calls louder. Males also use the casque to attract mates and project their strength and health to other males. 

Note in this photo, and the photo below, that the upper back part of the male's casque is glowing. It was very striking. 

The female's top of the head feathers were very odd, almost like horns or pigtails sticking straight up. I must not have kept the photos that showed it better, but the one below gives an idea. Also note that the birds are in the same tree as the photos above and the casque is not glowing. The sun had to hit it just right. 

The next photos show better lower body shots from the back and love-bird poses. 

The visit to the Nkimo Forest Lodge was worth it just for the hornbills. Such fascinating and interesting creatures and so fun to be able to observe them close-up. 

Jackson's Hornbill

We first saw Jackson's hornbills (male and female) on the road leading out of the Savannah Lodge and into Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda. They were standing in the middle of the road. Our last late afternoon as we sat on the porch of our cottage, several males flew up to our cottage and one perched on the fence and peered into the outside pathway into our outdoor toilet and shower. 

Jackson's hornbills - male with reddish/orange bill and female with a black bill. 

Jackson's hornbill illustration (male) from Birds of the World.

Illustration (female) from Birds of the World.

It is a black and white hornbill with a white throat, neck and chest, a white back and white wing patches. It has black legs and feet, black wings, except for the white patches, a mostly black tail and black skin around the eye and a black stripe on the top of the head. Male bills are reddish/orange with some whitish/yellow at the tip, while female bills are black. Both sexes have a reddish orange patch on the upper neck. Except for the white spots on the wings and less yellow on the tip of the bill, it resembles the Von der Decken's hornbill and has been considered by some to be a subspecies of it. 

Range map from Birds of the World which looks to broad. Wikipedia notes that it is only found in northwestern Kenya and northeastern Uganda. Birds of the World adds southeastern South Sudan and questions any regular presence in southwestern Ethiopia, but shows it on the map. 

Uganda - Through the Lens of My Granddaughter

In July 2025 we visited Uganda, Africa with our 16 year old granddaughter (who online we refer to as "Bug"). I had a Canon camera with a Tamron 100 to 600 mm lens that I let her borrow and she learned photography on the fly in Uganda. She took over 1,500 photos and I spent some time using Lightroom, cropping and modifying them a bit. Following are some of my favorite photos she took. Many of them are much, much better than the photos I took of the same animals.

Black and white casqued hornbill at Nkima Forest Lodge outside Entebbe. 

Red-tailed monkey at Nkima Forest Lodge. It was very early in the morning and the light was bad. She was outside our cottage early taking photos of the monkeys. I wasn't even able to get a photo of this monkey's face. 

African jacana in the Mabamba Swamp outside Entebbe. She was able to get the long spindly feet which are so wonderfully weird.

Little egret in the Mabamba Swamp.

Purple heron in the Mabamba Swamp.

Shoebill in the Mabamba Swamp.

Yellow-billed egret in the Mabamba Swamp.

Malachite kingfisher in the Mabamba Swamp.

African swamphen in the Mabamba Swamp.

Long-toed lapwing in the Mabamba Swamp.

White-faced ducks in the Mabamba Swamp. Such a wonderful photo.

Long-tailed cormorant in the Mabamba Swamp.

Hadada ibis in the Mabamba Swamp.

Emerald snake at Nkima Forest Lodge. She discovered this on her own on the patio. She is a lizard and snake magnet. 

Female Finch's agama at Pakuba Lodge in Murchison Falls NP. 

Male finch's agama at Murchison Falls NP.

Chimpanzee at Ngama Island in Lake Victoria. 

Angola swallow at Ngama Island.

Vervet monkey at Nkima Forest Lodge.

Vervet monkey at Nkima Forest Lodge. One of my favorite photos of hers. 

Piapiac (bird) on a white rhino in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

Piapiacs on a cape buffalo.

Piapiac on an elephant in Murchison Falls NP.

White rhino in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

Northern bushbuck in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

Elephants in Murchison Falls NP.

Northern red bishop in Murchison Falls NP.

Ugandan kob in Murchison Falls NP.

Ugandan kob in Murchison Falls NP.

Hippos along the Victoria Nile in Murchison Falls NP.

Male Abyssinian ground hornbill in Murchison Falls NP.

Same as above.

Jackson's hartebeest in Murchison Falls NP.

Oribi in Murchison Falls NP.

Cape buffalo that has been wallowing in mud in Murchison Falls NP.

Olive baboon in Murchison Falls NP.

Gray kestrel in Murchison Falls NP.

Red-throated bee-eater in Murchison Falls NP.

Rothschild giraffe in Murchison Falls NP.

Desfasa waterbuck in Murchison Falls NP.

Rock hyrax in Kidepo Valley NP. I think Bug had a soft spot for these creatures. 

Bush hyrax in Kidepo Falls NP.

African gray hornbill in Kidepo Valley NP.

Maneless zebra in Kidepo Valley NP.

I really like the rusty brown color between the black lines. I think it was darker there than anywhere I've seen. 

Cuckoo finch in Kidepo Valley NP.

Wonderful warthog in Kidepo Valley NP.

Bug got some particularly good photos of the vultures feasting on a kob carcass in Kidepo Valley NP. This is a Ruppell's griffon vulture.

The dark billed vultures are white-backed and the white billed vultures are Ruppell's griffon. 

The red head and neck is evidence that they've been putting their whole head and neck inside the kob under the skin. 

Side-striped jackal in Kidepo Valley NP. This is another animal that captured Bug's heart. 

A great photo of a galloping eland. 

One of several large mushrooms growing in a termite mound. 

Zachary, our ranger in Kidepo Valley NP, took them back to his home and cooked and ate them. 

A west African crocodile that Bug spotted in a boggy part of Kidepo Valley NP. 

A white-headed vulture in Kidepo Valley NP.

Note the particularly funky hairdo. It reminds me of the Joker. 

A Ruppell's starling in Kidepo Valley NP.

A black-winged kite in Kidepo Valley NP.

A hamerkop in Kidepo Valley NP. Bug had problems with the camera and was not taking photos the last part of our trip in Kidepo Valley NP.