Davis Lund Aviaries

Hornbills are ungainly looking with large, often colorful, beaks and lovely, long eyelashes. They are known for their unique breeding habits in which the female is sealed inside a hollow tree with a mud and feces mixture leaving only a small slit opening to allow the male to pass her, and later the young, food. When the babies fledge, the family breaks out of the cramped space.

Hornbills can be found in Africa and Asia. We raise members of the Tockus genus from Africa which are smaller in size and more carnivorous than the Asians. While most of the Asian hornbills live in a rainforest habitat, the Africans live in more arid conditions, dry scrubland or forests. Africans often forage on the ground catching small prey.

In captivity, hornbills become tame and confiding, and some can be good pet birds. Pictured to the left is Peaches, our parent-raised Von der Deckin female that was born here in 1999.

Many of the Tockus species are relatively common in softbill aviculture, but the Asian hornbills are much more difficult to find. Zoos tend to have more of the Asians, while private softbillers have more of the African species. Not only is this due to the CITES restrictions on imports, but also the fact that the Asians generally are physically larger, requiring very large aviaries, and are much more expensive.

Although most of the Asian hornbills are listed on CITES and illegal to import, luckily most of the African hornbills are still able to be imported. Red Billed and Von der Deckin species are the most inexpensive and frequently seen, and bred, hornbills in the late 1990's.

The majority of hornbills are easily sexed visually. The Red-Billed Hornbill male (above) has a large amount of black on the lower mandible, and the Von der Deckin male has a red and cream colored bill compared to a solid black one of the female. Other species differ in eye color, facial skin color, the size of the casque, and plumage.

Many species of hornbills, such as this Northern Ground Hornbill (above left) housed at the Sacramento Zoo, have casques. Casques are bill growth extensions starting at the base of the upper mandible, or beak. Typically the males have larger and showier ones than the females, although both species may have them. Casques come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are often wrinkled or folded looking. Many species names are coined by the bird's casque.

Feeding hornbills is relativity easy with some extra attention at breeding times. Since we only have Tockus species at this time, we feed all our hornbills the same diet. They get a mixture of our basic softbill fruit diet (see Diet) and water-soaked Kaytee Mynah Exact pellets in a 1:1 ratio. Insects, such as mealworms, frozen crickets, and waxworms, are given at least every other day.

A dish of dry pellets is available at all times. We use a combination of the following brands: Kaytee Exact Mynah, BEVO Universal Pellets, and Purina Trout Chow.

During breeding, there is a change in the feeding program. Besides the regular diet, we add a large serving of livefood daily, in addition to a dish of mashed hard-boiled egg with the shell and a dish of chopped beef heart. The birds will also eat pinkie mice, but we tend to avoid them because of the potential bacterial diseases they can carry since we do not raise our own pinkie mice. (Other aviaries use pinkies and other rodents with great success so we are not insinuating that they are inappropriate to use.)

Most hornbills are kept in medium to large size outdoor flights with shelters and heat provided for the colder weather. Hornbills can develop frostbite on their toes and feet easily, often leading to loss of the limb if not protected from freezing temperatures.

For the smaller Tockus species, the minimum size would be 3 feet by 6 feet by 6 feet (LxWxHt). Our hornbills are kept outside in planted aviaries that are completely sheltered from wind and rain in the winter although we do not use supplemental heat as our winters are usually mild. Smaller hornbill species can be kept in mixed species aviaries. We have kept them with plovers, thrushes, turacos, bulbuls, and mousebirds successfully.

Hornbills love to sunbathe as Hans, our Von der Deckin male (above, right) is doing. Dirt flooring is enjoyed since they spend a good deal of time on the substrate foraging and dustbathing.

To many, this is the most interesting aspect of hornbills. Like all but the Ground Hornbill species, the Von der Deckin Hornbills (Tockus deckeni) from Africa breed in tree cavities in the wild. The following describes the breeding behavior of our pair (left) of Von der Deckins, Hans and Gretel.

Right: shows the nestbox that the female has mudded herself into. Bark chips were nailed to the outside of the box to make it easier for the hornbills to grasp as they access the entrance hole. The box was initially filled 3/4ths full with orchid bark chips and pine shavings. The birds removed some and added dead leaves and pieces of bark.

The male would inspect the entrance, bring her mudding material and food gifts, and entice the female with pretend mudding movements at the entrance hole although he would never go in himself. The female did the mudding up using dirt, feces, and the fruit-pellet mixture. The "mud" was rock hard when dried. She squeezed herself through the small opening before finally mudding up until just a slim slit was left open.

Left: For over two months, the male fed the trapped female, and the chicks when they hatched, through a small vertical slit in the mudded up entrance hole. The female would greet him noisily every time as if complaining about her plight. Hatching about a day apart, the three chicks could be heard begging for food also.

Right: Finally after almost 3 months, the chicks emerge. The female breaks out about two weeks before the young do to help feed until the youngsters emerge. The young are fully flighted and weaned although the parents still offer food for another week or so. Pictured is Hans, the father (red bill) and his newly emerged daughter, Peaches.