Eastern Yellow-Billed Hornbill

Yellow-billed hornbills are one of dozens of species of hornbills, birds that all have a thick, curved beak. The yellow-billed hornbill has a yellow beak with an overlay of keratin protein on it called a casque. Keratin is a strong protein also found in human hair and fingernails. Their large bill is well adapted to eat just about anything that lives in the savannas and woodlands of eastern Africa: fruits, seeds, insects and other small animals. To support their heavy bill, hornbills are equipped with a strong neck!

Hornbills make nests in tree hollows. The female lays two or three eggs inside the hollow, then stays inside with them. The male builds up a wall of mud on the outside. He feeds the mother through a small hole in the mud while she incubates the eggs!

Hornbills hang out with an animal called a dwarf mongoose. The mongoose turns up insects that the hornbill eats, and the hornbill makes a loud call that alerts the mongoose to predators.