Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

The Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Bycanistes brevis (Sometimes put in the genus Ceratogymna) is a very large hornbill species, up to 80 cm/32" in length. It has a huge cream-coloured casque on top of its bill, making its head look almost as big as its body! But the casque has very light hollow spongy bone inside so it's not actually as top-heavy as it seems. The species is named for the light tips to the feathers around its cheek region, and there are a few related species with 'cheeky' names: the Brown-cheeked and the Grey-cheeked. This hornbill has a braying call that carries far in the forests where it lives. The species ranges from Southern through Eastern Africa as far as Ethiopia. Watercolour.