Von der Decken's Hornbill

Von der Decken's Hornbill Tockus deckeni

Mega Area, Ethiopia

18 January 2014

    I have seen fourteen species of hornbill on two continents, yet they never cease to amaze me, and always serve to reinforce that I am somewhere tropical, somewhere I am privileged to be. Once again this was the only day that I saw a species and it was simply spectacular. Despite its enormous bill it feeds mainly on fruit, seeds, buds, and insects including grasshoppers, mantids, crickets, beetles, termites ants and cicadas. Opportunistically it will also take tree frogs, snails, small rodents, lizards and nestling birds.