Latin name: Bucorvus leadbeateri
Length: 90cm Weight: up to 4kg Breeding: 1-2 eggs

It might be the large turkey-like black body, red face and throat pouch that first attracts you to this avian curiosity. Or it could be its deep, booming tom-tom like call. It sounds a bit like a lion announcing his presence but if you listen carefully the "oomph-oomph-oomph" carries a distinct message - "I'm going, I'm going, I'm going". That is the female's call; the male will reply "You can go, you can go…"

Well, perhaps you need to stretch your imagination to get that, but for many Africans it's all part of the bird's mystique. Some natives of East and Central Africa, for example, revere the ground hornbill for its magical powers. Others, however, pot the ‘turkey' with thanksgiving, while in another case, the bird's dried head is sported during hunting - perhaps as a lucky charm or an effective disguise.

Once spotted, the ground hornbill is worth a few minutes of your time. Enviably long eyelashes aside, its walk is particularly interesting. Unlike other birds, it tippy-toes with an absurd waddling gait - often one female with two beaux in attendance. Any yellow faces among them belong to juveniles. The hornbill is searching for insects, lizards, toads and the like. Hard-shelled beetles are crushed in their long, curved bills. Hornbills also gang up on snakes, those in front taunting the poor reptile while others stab it from behind. Tortoises may suffer an equally painful fate - speared through the shell by the pickaxe bill before being ripped out and devoured; one of the few prey not eaten whole. Ground hornbills can be seen in most places in Africa where there are open grasslands and some trees with holes in which to nest.