Download Fact Sheet: Von der Decken`s Hornbill Tockus

Fact Sheet: Von der Decken’s Hornbill
Tockus deckeni
Description:
• Size:
o Length: 17-20 in (43.2-50.8 cm)
o Wingspan: 15 in (38.1 cm)
• Weight: 0.2-0.5 lbs (120-212g)
• Sexual dimorphism: Males have bright red and white bills, while female bills are black.
• Physical Description: Medium sized bird with a large, thick, slightly down curved bill. The
wings are short, rounded, and broad. Tail feathers long and rectangular in shape.
• Coloration: Heads mostly white with black patches on the cap and around the eyes.
White underside and black back.
In the Wild
Habitat and Range:
• Geographic range - Von der Decken's hornbill is found across eastern Africa from central
and eastern Tanzania, throughout Kenya, and into southeastern Ethiopia and Somalia.
• Preferred Habitat- Scrubby woodlands of the dry savanna.
Diet:
• Omnivorous. Diet consists of snails, mice, nestling birds, lizards, tree frogs, seeds, fruit,
berries, and insects
Adaptations:
• Hornbills are the only birds in which the first and second neck vertebrae (the atlas and
axis) are fused together. This is thought to provide a more stable platform for
supporting the heavy bill.
• The long bill allows them to forage and collect food items from branches they could not
reach otherwise.
• Their short, broad, and rounded wings are efficient for short intervals of flight but not
ideal for extended periods.
Lifespan:
• Up to about 20 years in captivity
Ecosystem relationships:
• Predators: Adults are sometimes preyed upon by large birds of prey. Most predation
occurs to eggs and hatchlings by nest predators.
• Interspecies relationships:
o Mutualisim: The Von der Decken's hornbill and the dwarf mongoose of the East
African savannah have a unique relationship. The mongooses disturb insects for
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Von der Decken’s Hornbill
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
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the hornbills to eat, while the hornbills provide increased vigilance (alertness for
predators) allowing these mammals more time to feed.
Role/ Niche: Von der Decken’s hornbills help keep insect populations stable by serving a
predators. They also help spread the seeds of fruit in their droppings.
Reproduction:
• Breeding season:
• Behavior: They nest in tree cavities. The pair works together to partially close up the
entrance with a mixture of mud, droppings, and food items such as fruit pulp until the
female can barely fit through to enter the nest. The male continues to seal her in, and
she also assists from the inside using food and feces until only a narrow opening
remains. The male is then completely responsible for feeding his mate and the
upcoming chicks for the next 2 months.
• Incubation: Exact incubation times are unknown, but females tend to occupy the nest
for about 8 weeks. In one study eggs hatched 33 days after the female was sealed into
the nest.
• Clutch size: Usually 2 eggs, but can lay 3-4 per clutch
• Maturation: The female will break out of the nest, and assist the chicks in re sealing it
when chicks are about 25 days old. Chicks will emerge at about 50 days old.
Activity:
• Diurnal
Other “fun facts”:
• The Von der Decken's hornbill was named after the German explorer Baron Karl von der
Decken, who described them in his writings about Africa.
Conservation Status and Threats:
• Listed on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern
• Conservation efforts: There are not currently any specific conservation efforts for Von
der Decken’s hornbills. They are not currently in any danger as a species. They have a
relatively large range and their numbers are mostly stable. As cavity nesters, their
biggest threat is loss of nesting habitat.
At the Zoo
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The Zoo houses one female and one male Von der Decken’s hornbills, who arrived at the
Zoo in 2013.
The birds were named by children at the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital. The female
is named Bubbles, and the male is named Melvin.
They are fed a mixture of meat, fruit, vegetables and bugs.
We are in the process of station training them, which allows us to call them to a specific
perch to visually inspect them and monitor their health.
What We Can Do
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Von der Decken’s Hornbill
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
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Make environmentally responsible lifestyle decisions to help conserve habitat –
conserve energy and resources, reduce litter and pollution
Support the conservation efforts of local organizations like The Maryland Zoo as well as
organizations working in the field to protect wildlife and conserve habitat
References:
• Birds of Africa, vol. 2 p. 391-392 “Tockus deckeni”
• http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=936
• http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22682392/0
• http://www.marylandzoo.org/support-the-zoo/volunteer/volunteer-resources/on-grou
nds-exhibit-interpreters/
• http://www.marylandzoo.org/2013/06/new-to-the-zoo-the-von-der-deckens-hornbill/
• http://www.kenyabirds.org.uk/vd_hornbill.htm
• https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/Von_der_Decken's_Hornbill
• http://www.hbw.com/species/von-der-deckens-hornbill-tockus-deckeni
• “Hornbills” Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2004. The Gale Group Inc.
8/20/2014
Von der Decken’s Hornbill
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore