The conservation organisation BirdLife South Africa chose the southern ground-hornbill as the 2020 Bird of the Year. This species is endangered, but you can help save it from extinction.
-
COMPILED BY SOPHIA VAN TAAK
These birds make a deep, booming sound. It’s so loud you can hear it 3 km away! Usually a male and female will call to each other in a duet – listen here: bit.ly/birdduet
Can you and a friend mimic the sound?
One calls hudu hududu and the other answers hu-hu-hu!
These eyes don’t miss a thing – especially not something to eat in the grass.
Males and females have a similar appearance, but if you look closely, you’ll see that the female has a purple patch on her red wattle.
Fully grown, the southern ground-hornbill is about a metre tall and weighs 3,5 – 4 kg.
They scour woodland and savannah grassland for food. To move in the tall grass with ease, the bird has a short tail, long legs and flexible toes. Other birds hop around on the ground, but the southern ground-hornbill walks like a human!