The ground hornbills (Bucorvindae) are a family of the hornbill family Bucerotidae, with a single genus Bucorvus and two extant species. The family is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa: the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill occurs in a belt from Senegal east to Ethiopia, with the Southern Ground Hornbill occurring in the south and east of the continent.

Ground hornbills are large, with adults around a metre tall. Both species are ground-dwelling, unlike other hornbills and feed on insects, snakes, other birds, amphibians and even tortoises.^[1] They are among the longest-lived of all birds,^[2] with the larger southern species being indeed possibly the slowest-breeding (triennially) and longest-lived of all birds.^[3]

Taxonomy

Ornithologists consider the hornbills a distinct order Bucerotiformes and usually raise the ground hornbills to family level (Bucorvidae) on account of their distinctness. The genus Bucorvus contains two extant species:

• Abyssinian Ground Hornbill Bucorvus abyssinicus (also known as Northern Ground Hornbill)
• Southern Ground Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri

A prehistoric ground hornbill, Bucorvus brailloni, has been described from fossil bones in Morocco, suggesting that prior to Quaternary glaciations the genus was much more widespread or distributed differently.^[4]

It is currently thought that the ground hornbills, along with Tockus and Tropicranus are almost exclusively carnivorous^[1] and lack the gular pouch that allows more distal hornbill genera to store fruit.

Gallery

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  Southern Ground Hornbill

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  Abyssinian Ground Hornbill

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Kinnaird Margaret F. and O‘Brien< Timothy G.; The Ecology and Conservation of Asian Hornbills: Farmers of the Forest; pp. 20-23. ISBN 0226437124
2. ^ Wasser, D. E. and Sherman, P.W.; “Avian longevities and their interpretation under evolutionary theories of senescence” in Journal of Zoology 2 November 2009
3. ^ Skutch; Alexander Frank (author) and Gardner, Dana (illustrator) Helpers at birds' nests : a worldwide survey of cooperative breeding and related behavior pp. 69-71. Published 1987 by University of Iowa Press. ISBN 0877451508
4. ^ Kemp, A. C. 1995 The Hornbills. Oxford University Press, Oxford.