The lovely courtship of the flying banana

With its strikingly yellow bill, the Southern yellow-billed hornbill is sometimes called the ‘flying banana’. Yellow-billed hornbills are solitairy creatures until the mating time arrives. At that time, the male will do anything for his love, such as bringing her small morsels of food and feeding her from his mouth, and bowing for her with his wings spread. The female then nests in a natural hole in a tree, closing the opening off with her faeces. She leaves just enough opening so that the male can feed her while she incubates the eggs. During this time she loses her feathers. If the male were to abandon her at this time, the female and the eggs would be doomed, as there is no way for them to acquire food. After 25 days the first egg hatches, and when the first chick is about three weeks old, the female leaves the nest in a new suit of feathers. From this moment both parents feed the chicks for the next six weeks. What a lovely family!

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Photo taken in Pilanesberg National Park

Southern Ground Hornbill

Southern ground hornbills live together in family groups consisting of males and females, adults and youngsters. They prefer walking around to flying, and while doing so they catch small animals like snakes, lizards, insects, and small mammals. The whole group takes care of the young ones, who are only able to live independently after two years. This long period means that southern ground hornbills can only breed every three years, making them vulnerable to extinction.

Photo taken in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia