Black-casqued Hornbill Ceratogymna atrata
Male Black-casqued Hornbill, Kakum, Ghana, May 2011 - click for larger image

Kakum, Ghana
May 2011

The Black-casqued Hornbill is distributed in West Africa from Sierra Leone to western Uganda and south to Angola and Zaire.. There is a distribution map at Birdlife International.

Female Black-casqued Hornbill, Kakum, Ghana, May 2011 - click for larger image It is found in the canopy of mature lowland forest where it feeds at fruiting trees.

It is a large and mainly black hornbill of the forest similar to Yellow-casqued Hornbill C. elata but with a longer, forward-pointing casque which can be surprisingly yellow as in this case. The white feathers of the tail are at the tip rather than covering the full length. The female, seen here in photo 2, has a rufous-brown head. I am indebted to Luis for pointing out my original error in identification when I was mislead by the colour of the casque.

The song is a loud, plaintive trumpeting.

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