Ocyceros gingalensis
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The Sri Lanka grey hornbill (Ocyceros gingalensis) is a bird in the hornbill family and a widespread and common endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka. Hornbills are a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World.
The Sri Lanka grey hornbill is a gregarious bird found in forest habitats. The Sri Lanka grey hornbill is a large bird at 45 centimetres (18 in) in length. It has grey wings with black primary flight feathers, a grey back, and a brown crown. Its long tail is blackish with white sides, and the underparts are white. The long, curved bill has no casque. Sexes are similar, although the male has a cream-coloured bill, whereas the female's is black with a cream stripe. Immature birds have dark grey upperparts, a cream bill, and a tail with a white tip. Its flight is slow and powerful.
The female lays up to four white eggs in a tree hole blocked off during incubation with a cement made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. There is only one narrow aperture, barely wide enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and chicks.
These birds usually live in pairs or small flocks consisting up to five birds (2 adults and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 6 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill sighting in Yala National Park on a given day, based on 105 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 116th most-seen of the 220 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and April–May
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill in Yala National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, the lowest month.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sri Lanka 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.
4th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill sightings, Yala National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka, about 50%), Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 50%) and Minneriya National Park (Sri Lanka, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Yala National Park (105 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.
