Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill Tockus flavirostris Scientific name definitions

40 cm; male 225–275 g, female 170–191 g. Small, black and white hornbill with spotted wing-coverts , white in outer tail, and large orange-yellow bill with only slight casque. Male with casque extending to tip of bill ; bare skin around eye black; throat skin extensive, pink , inflated when breeding; eyes yellow. Distinguished from T. leucomelas by colours of facial and throat skin. Female smaller, casque smaller, throat skin black. Juvenile with small, dull yellow bill with brown patches.

A series of cackling notes , often breaking into ‘laughter’, “roh-roh-roh-roh-roh-roh-RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH”. Similar to T. leucomelas but hoarser and lower-pitched.

Little known. Lays in Feb–Mar in Kenya, in Mar–May (possibly Oct–Nov) in Ethiopia and Somalia. Territorial in pairs, with head-down open-winged display. Nest in natural cavity 1·5–4·5 m up in tree or rock face, lined with bark and wood chips. Clutch 2–3 eggs; female fed in nest by male with single items carried in bill tip, moults remiges and rectrices together at start of laying; incubation and fledging periods not documented.