Bucorvidae Ground-Hornbills
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Introduction
Like a strange combination of a toucan and a turkey, ground-hornbills are large, terrestrial hornbills that stalk the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. Living in small groups, ground-hornbills are the largest cooperatively breeding birds. Within their range, they are sometimes persecuted because they will smash windows as they attack their reflections, although in many regions it is taboo to kill them because they are associated with the coming of rain.
Habitat
Ground-hornbills are found in relatively open, dry savanna habitats. Can occupy a range of habitats ranging from woodlands to dry, sub-desert scrub.
Diet and Foraging
Unlike the hornbills (Bucerotidae), the ground-hornbills are primarily carnivorous. Ground-hornbills primarily hunt their prey by walking through the savanna, snatching invertebrates and various small vertebrates with their bill.
Breeding
Ground-hornbills are cooperative breeders, with the dominant pair being monogamous. Both species mostly nest in natural cavities, either in trees or rock face. Unlike the hornbills (Bucerotidae), ground-hornbills do not seal themselves in nest cavities. Cavities are lined with dry leaves. Ground-hornbills generally 1-2 eggs (rarely 3). While females are not sealed in, males still feed the female during incubation. The eggs hatch asynchronously, and the second chick to hatch usually dies within a week. The chicks remain in the nest for 80-90 days, during which time they are fed initially by the male and any helpers. Females leave the nest and help feed chicks after about 3 weeks. Chicks typically remain with adults until they mature.
Conservation Status
Both species face some conservation concerns (2 Vulnerable). While both species are widespread, both are sparsely distributed within their range, with large home ranges (up to 250 square-kilometers). Outside of protected areas, they face some persecution where they are killed for breaking glass windows and as part of a superstition about drought. In addition, they face habitat loss and degradation as a result of tree loss and the use of poisoned bait.
Systematics History
Bucorvidae has traditionally been placed in Coraciiformes, but Cracraft (1981) recognized that the ground-hornbills (along with the hornbills in Bucerotidae) are morphologically distinct and somewhat divergent from the remaining families in this order. In their phylogeny based on morphological characters, Livezey and Zusi (2007) found that the ground-hornbills, together with the rest of the hornbills, fall within the Coraciiformes as the sister to the hoopoes (Upupidae) and woodhoopoes (Phoeniculidae), an affinity that has also been strongly supported by many recent molecular phylogenetic studies (Ericson et al. 2006, Hackett et al. 2008, Yuri et al. 2013, Jarvis et al. 2014, Prum et al. 2015). However, to include these families with the other groups traditionally in the Coraciiformes would require including the monophyletic Piciformes, and we have opted to reduce the size of the Coraciiformes by separating Bucerotiformes from it. Within Bucerotiformes, Bucorvidae is sister to the rest of the hornbills (Ericson et al. 2006, Hackett et al. 2008, Gonzalez et al. 2013, Yuri et al. 2013, Prum et al. 2015).
Conservation Status
Least Concern |
0%
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Near Threatened |
0%
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Vulnerable |
100%
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Endangered |
0%
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Critically Endangered |
0%
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Extinct in the Wild |
0%
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Extinct |
0%
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Not Evaluated |
0%
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Data Deficient |
0%
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Unknown |
0%
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Data provided by IUCN (2023) Red List. More information