Ocyceros griseus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The Malabar gray hornbill (Ocyceros griseus) is a hornbill endemic to the Western Ghats and associated hills of southern India. They have a large beak but lack the casque that is prominent in some other hornbill species. They are found mainly in dense forest and around rubber, arecanut or coffee plantations. They move around in pairs or small groups, feeding on figs and other forest fruits. Their loud cackling and laughing call makes them familiar to people living in the region.
The Malabar grey hornbill is a large bird, but at 45 to 58 cm (18 to 23 in) in length it is still the smallest of the Asian hornbills. It has a 23 cm (9.1 in) tail and pale or yellowish to orange bill. Males have a reddish bill with a yellow tip, while the females have a plain yellow bill with black at the base of the lower mandible and a black stripe along the culmen. They show a broad whitish superciliary band above the eye, running down to the neck. They fly with a strong flap and glide flight and hop around heavily on the outer branches of large fruiting trees. They have brown-grey wings, a white carpal patch and black primary flight feathers tipped with white. The Indian grey hornbill... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Malabar Grey Hornbill sighting in Periyar National Park on a given day, based on 2,366 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 227 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.
January and February
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Malabar Grey Hornbill in Periyar National Park on a given day, against about 40% in March, the lowest month. Those are among Periyar National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 410 mm in August.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Malabar Grey Hornbill sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Malabar Grey Hornbill sightings, Periyar National Park has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Nagarhole National Park (India, about 20%) and Bandipur National Park (India, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Malabar Grey Hornbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Periyar National Park (2,366 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
