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300px Red-billed Hornbill
(Tockus erythrorhychus)

Hornbills ( Family Bucerotidae) are a group of birds whose bill is shaped like a cow's horn, but without a twist, sometimes with a casque on the upper mandible. Frequently, the bill is brightly coloured.

Both the common English and the scientific name of the family refer to the shape of the bill, "Buceros" being "cow horn" in GreekThe Greek language ( /Elini'k{/) is an Indo-European language which has existed from around the 14th century BC in the Cretan inscriptions called Linear B. Mycenaean Greek of this period is distinguished from later Classical or Ancient Greek of the 8th ce.

The Bucerotidae family includes 57 species, 9 of them endemic to the Southern part of AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar. During incubation, the female lays up to six white eggs locked within the nestA nest is normally built by birds to hold their eggs and provide a home for their offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves. Generally each species of bird has a distinctive style of nest. Nests can be foun cavity, made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks.

When the chicks and the female are too big to fit in the nest, the mother breaks out and rebuilds the wall, then both parents feed the chicks. In some species the chicks themselves rebuild the wall unaided.

Hornbills' distribution ranges from AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar south of the SaharaThe Sahara is the world's largest desert, over 3,500,000 sq mi (9,065,000 sq km), located in northern Africa and is 2. 5 million years old. The whole land area of United States of America would fit inside it. Its name Sahara is the Arabic translation of t through tropical AsiaThe continent of Asia is defined by subtracting Europe and Africa from the great land mass of Africa-Eurasia. The boundaries are vague, especially between Asia and Europe: Asia and Africa meet somewhere near the Suez Canal. The boundary between Asia and E to the PhilippinesThe Republic of the Philippines is an island nation consisting of an archipelago of 7,107 islands, lying in the tropical western Pacific Ocean about 100 kilometers southeast of mainland Asia. Spain (1521-1898) and the United States (1898-1946), colonized and Solomon Islands. Most are arboreal birds of dense forest, but the large Ground Hornbills, as their name implies, are terrestrial birds of open savanna.

Hornbills are omnivorous birds, eating fruit, insects and small animals.

In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, hornbills are separated from the Coraciiformes, which also includes kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers, as a separate order Bucerotiformes.

Some species have different plumages for each sex. The blue throat of the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill pictured here shows it to be an adult female.

Most species' casques are very light, containing a good deal of air space. However, the Rhinoceros Hornbill has a solid casque made of a material called hornbill ivory , which the Chinese valued greatly as a carving material.