Oddball hornbill

If this bird looks familiar, you likely remember Zuzu from The Lion King. If you didn't know, Zuzu was a yellow-billed hornbill. Hornbills are common in Kruger National Park and elsewhere in South Africa. They are omnivores that eat insects, bird chicks, frogs, chameleons, ants, termites and occasionally fruit. Seeing them is a thrill because they are so unique, and they have interesting habits worth mentioning.

Yellow-billed hornbills are monogamous, and they begin their courtship when for a month the male brings the female small bits of food in his mouth. Once they mate, they find a hole in a tree, often facing north east, to arrange their leaf litter and bark into a nest. When the nest is ready the female enters and closes the opening with feces, leaving a small slit in the entrance for her doting partner to feed her while she incubates their eggs. 

Hornbills are known to forage in cooperation with dwarf mongoose. The hornbill catches prey the mongoose scratches out of the ground, and in return alerts the mongoose to danger from raptors overhead. Hornbills are even known to sit in waiting by the mongoose burrow ready for the hunt.

Hornbills are sociable and live in small groups. They have a very notable call. Once one bird starts calling, the whole group will often join in, creating a clucking cacophony.