CreatureData

Black hornbill

Anthracoceros malayanus (Raffles, 1822)

VUVulnerablebirds

The black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus) is a species in the family Bucerotidae, order Bucerotiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 1.05 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus)
Photo: Neil Phillips · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black hornbill

Weight
1.05 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.4src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the black hornbill

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus)
Mahbob Yusof · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the black hornbill live?

Not recorded

What is the black hornbill?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus) is a species of bird of the hornbill family Bucerotidae. It lives in Asia in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.

The species has a selectiveness towards the environment and resources when it comes to reproduction. It is a lowland specialist. This organism will only start breeding and nesting when there is a large supply of fruits available, and in trees of larger size. When there are limited resources available, and may curtail nesting for years when there is a low availability of fruits(4).

It is the major seed disperser for Durio graveolens, a species of durian. The connection is strong enough to reflect in some of the common names for the fruit: The Kenyah and Dayak peoples call it durian anggang (lit. 'hornbill durian'), and in Malay it is called durian burong/durian burung (lit. 'durian bird'). It also has a role in seed disbursement for Vitex pinnata.

It is known to fly for hours at a time.

It is threatened by hunting and habitat loss.

From the Wikipedia article “Black hornbill” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_hornbill&oldid=1313849162), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the black hornbill sound like?

Michal Maňas · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the black hornbill endangered?

The black hornbill is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.

How is the black hornbill classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderBucerotiformes
  5. familyBucerotidae
  6. genusAnthracoceros
  7. SpeciesAnthracoceros malayanus (Raffles, 1822)

Synonyms Anthracoceros malayanus malayanus, Buceros antracicus, Buceros malayanus

Other names and names in other languages (42)
  • أبو قرن أسودArabic
  • কালো ধনেশBangla
  • Kalao duBreton
  • calau becfalcat cellutCatalan
  • Calau becfalçat cellutCatalan
  • zoborožec malajskýCzech
  • cornbig duWelsh
  • Sort NæsehornsfuglDanish
  • MalaienhornvogelGerman
  • Malaien-HornvogelGerman
  • nigra buceroEsperanto
  • Cálao malayoSpanish
  • valgekulm-sarvlindEstonian
  • نوکشاخ سیاهPersian
  • mustasarvinokkaFinnish
  • Calao charbonnierFrench
  • קלאו שחורHebrew
  • maláj szarvascsőrűHungarian
  • Սև թռչուն-ռնգեղջյուրArmenian
  • Kangkareng hitamIndonesian
  • Bucero neroItalian
  • クロサイチョウJapanese
  • Juodasis ragasnapisLithuanian
  • malaizinis raibasis ragasnapisLithuanian
  • Burung Enggang Gatal BirahMalay
  • Tsídii bichʼahtsohí łizhinígííNavajo
  • Zwarte NeushoornvogelDutch
  • malayhornfuglNorwegian
  • dzioborożec białodziobyPolish
  • calau-pretoPortuguese
  • calau-malaioPortuguese
  • Чёрная птица-носорогRussian
  • zobákorožec čiernySlovak
  • Crni kljunorožacSerbian
  • svart näshornsfågelSwedish
  • นกเงือกดำThai
  • Sürmeli Kara BoynuzgagaTurkish
  • птах-носоріг чорнийUkrainian
  • Cao cát đenVietnamese
  • 黑犀鳥Chinese
  • 黑斑犀鸟Chinese
  • 黑腹斑犀鳥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black hornbill

Other species in the same genus Anthracoceros.

CR, Critically Endangered
Sulu hornbill (Anthracoceros montani)

Sulu hornbill

Anthracoceros montani

Bucerotidae

CompareBlack hornbill vs Oriental pied hornbillBlack hornbill vs Malabar pied hornbillBlack hornbill vs Palawan hornbillBlack hornbill vs Sulu hornbill

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the black hornbill?

An adult black hornbill weighs 1.05 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the black hornbill endangered?

The black hornbill is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the black hornbill?

The black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus) belongs to the family Bucerotidae in the order Bucerotiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-hornbill

MLA

“Black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-hornbill.

BibTeX
@misc{black_hornbill_2026,
  title = {Black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-hornbill},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}