Brown-cheeked Hornbill
Bycanistes cylindricus
Big, spectacular black-and-white hornbill. Males have a large cream-colored bill, and females a much smaller and darker one. In flight, shows a broad white patch at the back of the wing, white wingtips, and a white tail with a black band. Found in the canopy of lowland rainforest, usually in pairs or small groups. The loud calls are honking and yapping notes that are often given in a quick series. Similar to Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, but has a white tail with a black band, the wingtips are white, and the bill is paler. Could be confused with Piping Hornbill, but much larger, with much more white in the wings and tail and a paler bill.
Identification
The brown-cheeked hornbill is a large bird, measuring 60 to 70 cm (24 to 28 in) in length. The male has a large yellow, down-curving beak topped by a casque, a hollow structure attached to the upper mandible. The head, upper parts and underparts are black apart from the reddish-brown cheeks, and the white rump, belly and tail. The female is smaller but otherwise similar to the male apart from having a black beak and casque. Its call is a descending series of coarse croaks "rrah...rrah...rrah...rrah" or "rack kack kak-kak".
Taxonomy
Genus: Bycanistes; Family: Bucerotidae; Order: Bucerotiformes.
- Scientific name
- Bycanistes cylindricus
- Authority
- (Temminck, 1831)
- Order
- Bucerotiformes
- Family
- Bucerotidae
- Genus
- Bycanistes
Range and habitat
The brown-cheeked hornbill is native to the Upper Guinean forests region of tropical West Africa, its range including southern Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, southwestern Ghana and Togo. These forests are moist deciduous, semi-evergreen mixed forests, typically containing a range of tree species, some of which drop their leaves during the dry season. It is also found in mature second-growth forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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