Southern Ground Hornbill - Bucorvus leadbeateri
A pair of this strange birds photograohed promenading along the lake front at Lake Manyara in Tanzania. I took this picture over quite a distance in poor light so I am not sure how well it will "blow up".
The exposed skin around the eye and on the throat (wattle) is bright red on the male bird but with a violet-blue patch on the centre of the female's throat. Hornbills are fairly omniverous and will eat insects and small mammals and lizards etc. "A catholic diet from termites to hares (even young eaglets from nests !)" says the field guide. The birds spend their time hunting and foraging on the ground and only take to the trees for defence.
These are long-lived birds with life spans in the wild of up to thirty years and in captivity birds have lived up to seventy years ! Unfortunately these hornbills take a long time to reach breeding maturity and then only have one or two chicks (supported by an extended family of younger birds). The slow reproductive rate coupled with the destruction of their habitat for agricultural has placed them on the "vulnerable to extinction" for Birdlife international and "critically endangered" in South Africa where they have been studied closely. They are now restricted to the National Parks.
Lake Manyara NP, Tanzania
July 19 2012
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