Yellow-casqued Hornbill Ceratogymna elata

Yellow-casqued Hornbill Ceratogymna elata

Red List Status: Vulnerable

Extant (resident): Cameroon; Côte d’Ivoire; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Liberia; Mali; Nigeria; Senegal; Sierra Leone

Possibly Extinct: Togo

The yellow-casqued hornbill is one of the most remarkable hornbills in the world and one of the largest birds in the rainforests of West Africa weighing up to two kilos. Sporting a shock of russet coloured feathers and a striking blue coloured face, they prefer to live high up in the rainforest canopy in Côte d’Ivoire, #Ghana, #Liberia, Mali and #SierraLeone. Their main threat is hunting and human persecution and they are possibly extinction now in some countries. Recent mass deforestation for #mining, #palmoil, #cocoa and #meat is also a threat and they are now classified as #vulnerable. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil, #Boycott4Wildlife

Appearance & Behaviour

One of the largest birds in West African the yellow-casqued hornbill has a shock of russet coloured feathers and a striking blue coloured face. They live in the forest canopy and rarely venture to the ground. Generally, they live in family groups of generally one adult female and male birds and two juveniles.

When a large ant or termite nest is discovered occasionally the birds will gather in large flocks to penetrate the nest. These hornbills are predated upon by crowned hawk eagles. Under threat from these eagles, a flock of hornbills will mob the birds as a group and call together loudly. This collective alarm call may serve to deter the eagles from hunting them.

Threats

Rapid destruction of their range across several countries in West Africa has meant that the yellow-casqued hornbill is now classified as vulnerable.

The Yellow-casqued Hornbill faces numerous anthropogenic threats including:

• Hunting is a major threat: Humans have predated upon these birds and overhunted them causing serious decline in their numbers.
• Deforestation for palm oil, meat and cocoa: Increasing fragmentation of rainforests in West Africa has meant the birds are restricted in food sources and their populations have reduced as a result.
• Climate change: Is also thought to be an additional threat to these large African birds.

The species is on the way out in eastern Ghana, and it is likely extinct in Togo (F. Dowsett-Lemaire in litt. 2016). Its disappearance from Bia NP, where there have been no records since 1991 (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 2011a), is probably related to uncontrolled hunting and the logging of the southern section in the 1990s. The species’s fate in south-western Ghana is very unfavourable, with most habitat expected to be lost to timber extraction and agricultural encroachment, and habitat in reserves expected to be lost by the early 2030s (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 2014).

IUCN Red List

Habitat

Yellow-casqued hornbills prefer to live their lives high up in the tree canopy of primary forest. However they are known to also survive in logged, riverine or secondary forests. They migrate according to food availability.

Diet

These birds are primarily folivores and insectivores who consume seeds, small insects, spiders and scorpions. The birds congregate in large flocks to invade termite mounds.

Support yellow-casqued hornbills by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.

Further Information

BirdLife International. 2016. Ceratogymna elata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22682627A92954374. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22682627A92954374.en. Accessed on 31 October 2022.

Yellow-casqued hornbill Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-casqued_hornbill

Yellow-casqued hornbill Animalio.bio: https://animalia.bio/yellow-casqued-hornbill

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