Indian Grey Hornbill

Indian Grey Hornbill

Ocyceros birostris

Silhouette: PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~60% · Likely
at Dehradun

In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%

3,750 Verified sightings at Dehradun
9,827 In all 12 parks From 2019 to 2026
February Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Indian Grey Hornbill

The Indian gray hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) is a common hornbill found on the Indian subcontinent. It is mostly arboreal and is commonly sighted in pairs. It has grey feathers all over the body with a light grey or dull white belly. The horn is black or dark grey with a casque extending to the point of curvature of the horn. It is one of the few hornbill species found in urban areas in many cities where they are able to make use of large trees in avenues.

The Indian grey hornbill is a medium-sized hornbill, measuring around 61 cm (24 in) in length. The upper parts are greyish brown and there is a slight trace of a pale supercilium. The ear coverts are darker. The flight feathers of the wing are dark brown with a whitish tip. The tail has a white tip and a dark subterminal band. They have a red iris and the eyelids have eyelashes. The casque is short and pointed.

The male has a larger casque on a dark bill, and the culmen and lower mandible are yellowish. The bare skin around the eye is dark in the male, but sometimes pale reddish in females. The female has a more yellowish bill with black on the basal half and on the casque.

The juveniles lack the casque, and the... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:20

India · 2026

© Ding Li Yong · XC1088315 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Alarm call0:25

India · 2019

© Lakshmikant Rajaram Neve · XC455224 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:26

India · 2022

© Sathyan Meppayur · XC793610 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Bandhavgarh National Park 🇮🇳 India
~70%
2 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
~50%
3 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~50%
4 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
~50%
5 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
6 Royal Bardia National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~20%
7 Nagarhole National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
8 Bandipur National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
9 Ranthambore National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
10 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
11 Mudumalai National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
12 Periyar National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Indore 🇮🇳 India
~60%
2 Bareilly 🇮🇳 India
~60%
3 Dehradun 🇮🇳 India
~60%
4 Jammu 🇮🇳 India
~60%
5 Aligarh 🇮🇳 India
~50%
6 Lucknow 🇮🇳 India
~50%
7 Agra 🇮🇳 India
~40%
8 Chandigarh 🇮🇳 India
~40%
9 Jabalpur 🇮🇳 India
~40%
10 Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 🇮🇳 India
~40%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 National Zoological Park Delhi 🇮🇳 India In captivity
2 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens 🇨🇳 China In captivity
3 Edward Youde Aviary 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Indian Grey Hornbill in Dehradun?

Likely

About 60% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Grey Hornbill sighting in Dehradun on a given day, based on 3,750 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 7th most-seen of the 280 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Indian Grey Hornbill in Dehradun?

February

In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Grey Hornbill in Dehradun on a given day, against about 40% in May, the lowest month. That is one of Dehradun's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain against 370 mm in July.

What time of day is best to see an Indian Grey Hornbill?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Grey Hornbill sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Dehradun the best place to see an Indian Grey Hornbill?

Among the best

Of the 44 cities where we can rate Indian Grey Hornbill sightings, Dehradun ranks 3rd at about 60%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Indore (India, about 60%) and Bareilly (India, about 60%).

Where does the Indian Grey Hornbill sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Indian Grey Hornbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Dehradun (3,750 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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