Indian Grey Hornbill

Latin Name: 
Ocyceros birostris
Category: 
Size: 
60cm
Description: 

Grey-brown plumage; large, curved beak with casque diagnostic; long, graduated tail, tipped black and white. Casque smaller in female. The Malabar Grey Hornbill O. griseus (58cm), restricted to the W Ghats, south of Khandala, lacks casque on beak; dark tail tipped white, except on central feathers. Pairs or small parties; sometimes large gatherings; mostly arboreal, but descends to pick fallen fruit or lizards; feeds along with frugivorous birds on fruiting trees; noisy, undulating flight.

Habitat: 
forests, orchards, tree-covered avenues, vicinity of habitation.
Food: 
fruit, lizards, insects, rodents.
Distribution: 
almost throughout India, up to about 1,500m in Himalaya; absent in arid NW regions and the heavy rainfall areas of southern W Ghats.
Call: 
Call Description: 
noisy; normal call a shrill squealing note; also other squeals and screams.
National Status: