Northern Red-billed Hornbill

Northern Red-billed Hornbill

Tockus erythrorhynchus

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~70% · Very likely
at Tsavo East National Park

In 3 days >90%

702 Verified sightings at Tsavo East National Park From 2019 to 2026
4,662 In all 12 parks
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Northern Red-billed Hornbill

The northern red-billed hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found from southern Mauritania through Somalia and northeast Tanzania. There are five species of red-billed hornbills recognized, but all five were once considered conspecific and some authorities still classify the others as subspecies of Tockus erythrorhynchus.

(Southern) Red-billed hornbill – Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song1:12

Burkina Faso · 2026

© Marc Languy · XC1186977 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:52

Tanzania · 2024

© Barry Edmonston · XC898923 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call1:11

Nigeria · 2023

© Dickson Anoibi Matthew · XC777629 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Samburu National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~80%
2 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~80%
3 Tsavo East National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~70%
4 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~60%
5 Meru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~60%
6 Mkomazi National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~60%
7 Awash National Park 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
~40%
8 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~30%
9 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
10 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
11 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
12 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Maiduguri 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~80%
2 Ouagadougou 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
~60%
3 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Prague Zoo 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
2 Basel Zoo 🇨🇭 Switzerland In captivity
3 Leipzig Zoological Garden 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
4 Natura Artis Magistra 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
5 Barcelona Zoo 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
6 Zlín-Lešná Zoo 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
7 Zoo Pilsen 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
8 Busch Gardens Williamsburg 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
9 Wildlife Safari 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
10 Brookfield Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
11 Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
12 Milwaukee County Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
13 Nuremberg Zoo 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
14 Tiergarten Am Tiergarten 28 in Nürnberg 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
15 Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
16 Birmingham Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
17 Saint Louis Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
18 Moody Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
19 Zoologischer Garten Leipzig 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
20 ZooTampa 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
21 Oregon Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
22 Memphis Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
23 Chapultepec Zoo 🇲🇽 Mexico In captivity
24 Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden 🇭🇺 Hungary In captivity
25 Zoo d'Amnéville 🇫🇷 France In captivity
26 Bird Paradise 🇸🇬 Singapore In captivity
27 Riverbanks Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
28 Aquarama Barcelona 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
29 Lincoln Park Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
30 Rainforest Wild Asia 🇸🇬 Singapore In captivity
31 Tiergarten Straubing 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
32 Reserva Zoológica Oasys MiniHollywood 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
33 Discovery Cove 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
34 Kuala Lumpur Bird Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia In captivity
35 Leningrad Zoo 🇷🇺 Russia In captivity
36 Sacramento Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
37 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens 🇨🇳 China In captivity
38 Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
39 Zoologischer Garten Hof 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
40 National Aviary 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
41 Edward Youde Aviary 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity
42 Aquarium d'Amnéville 🇫🇷 France In captivity
43 Rákosův pavilon 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
44 Tiergarten Am Tiergarten 12 in Nürnberg 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
45 Tiergarten Am Tiergarten 14 in Nürnberg 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
46 Velemlokárium 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
47 Wolfgang-Köhler-Primaten-Forschungszentrum 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Northern Red-billed Hornbill in Tsavo East National Park?

Very likely

About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Red-billed Hornbill sighting in Tsavo East National Park on a given day, based on 702 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 345 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Northern Red-billed Hornbill in Tsavo East National Park?

March–April, June–July and December

In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Red-billed Hornbill in Tsavo East National Park on a given day, against about 60% in August, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a Northern Red-billed Hornbill?

Between 6 and 9 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Red-billed 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 Tsavo East National Park the best place to see a Northern Red-billed Hornbill?

3rd of 12

Of the 12 parks where we can rate Northern Red-billed Hornbill sightings, Tsavo East National Park ranks 3rd at about 70%. The best odds are in Samburu National Reserve (Kenya, about 80%) and Tarangire National Park (Tanzania, about 80%). All parks ranked.

Which relatives of the Northern Red-billed Hornbill live in Tsavo East National Park?

Same genus: Tockus

The closest relatives of the Northern Red-billed Hornbill that you can see in Tsavo East National Park (genus Tockus, Red-billed and Yellow-billed Hornbills) are Von der Decken's Hornbill (about 60%) and Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Northern Red-billed Hornbill sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Northern Red-billed Hornbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Tsavo East National Park (702 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.

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