This is a southern ground-hornbill foraging around

Today I want to write about a really cool, amazing bird, the southern ground-hornbill.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. These amazing birds grow up to 1.3 metres long, making them the largest species of hornbill in the world.
2. They are excellent hunters, walking along the ground and using their huge beaks to catch a wide range of prey, including lizards, snakes, birds, small mammals, insects and even rabbits, tortoises and monkeys.  They also eat seeds and fruit.
3. Southern ground-hornbills are the slowest breeders of any bird in the world.  They lay 1-3 eggs, but usually only one chick survives.  The parents rely on a small group of others to raise and feed their chick, which takes up to 2 years to become an independent adult.  They are unable to breed until they are about 7 years old.  It’s estimated that a group only raises one adult every nine years, so thankfully they live for up to 60 years.
4. They live in very large territories and are very loud, making calls that can be heard up to 3 kilometres away to defend their territories.
5. Southern ground-hornbills are found in open grasslands and savannah throughout sub-Saharan Africa.  They are considered vulnerable to extinction due to loss of habitat and because it takes a long time for their numbers to recover.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.

Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about southern ground-hornbills?