April, 5, 2010
My very first painting after I finished art school, 1990.
Yellow-billed Hornbill Tockus leucomelas
This is one of my favourite birds. They are a medium sized bird; 48 to 60 cm long. Only the male has a casque on the beak, although this is not as pronounced in the Yellow Bill as in other hornbills. My painting is of a female. They are common bush veldt residents in Southern Africa, preferring thorn scrub and dry woodland areas. They are quite bold and will eat right out of your hand. They are often found on the ground foraging for seeds, insects, spiders, scorpions, lizards etc. and hop sideways to see past their long bill. Females lay 3 to 4 eggs in nest cavities in trees. The male closes the incubating female in the cavity with mud for about 25 days and feeds her through a small opening. When the eggs hatch the mother breaks out and closes the babies in and both parents feed them through the small opening for another 45 days until they are mature enough to break out.
I love the way these hornbills fly. They have very broad wings which they open in a strong downward stroke that pushes their bodies up in the air and then they tuck them against their sides, which cause them to drop. The result is a flight pattern that resembles a long, leisurely, undulating wave. They call as they fly. One of my best memories is when we were on a culling contract in Swaziland. Our son was just 4. I had to cull about 500 impala so I hunted day and night for 3 months. Wherever I went, these hornbills would follow swooping low over the thorn trees keeping a sharp eye open for any insect or small animal that I might flush out walking through the bush. When we had need for some human contact we would sometimes leave our camp in the early evening and go into the small settlement where the company had a clubhouse complete with swimming pool, tennis courts, restaurant and other facilities. We would sit on the cool flagstone veranda overlooking the lush green golf course on which small herds of impala safely grazed. I could swear they looking up at me every now and then with a smug look (I was only allowed to cull in the bush!), and there they were - the Yellow Billed Hornbills, hopping along, peering sideways at us looking for a handout of Africa
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