CreatureData

Great hornbill

Buceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758

VUVulnerablebirds

The great hornbill (Buceros bicornis), also called Great pied hornbill or Great Indian hornbill, is a bird in the family Bucerotidae, order Bucerotiformes. It is a frugivore of forest habitats whose main foods are ficus, lauraceae, myristicaceae and vitex altissima, and its trophic level is listed as omnivore.

Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Photo: Shantanu Kuveskar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the great hornbill

Adults have a representative body mass of 2.8 kg, with reported values from 2.67 to 3.0 kg, placing it in the medium size class.

Weight
2.67 kg – 3 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
33.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Main food
ficus, lauraceae, myristicaceae, vitex altissimasrc for Main food
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
31 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2src 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 great hornbill

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

Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Rohitjahnavi · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Rohitjahnavi · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Rohitjahnavi · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Rohitjahnavi · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Rohitjahnavi · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Rohitjahnavi · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Rohitjahnavi · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
Rajan Hatiskar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the great hornbill live?

Not recorded

What is the great hornbill?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The great hornbill (Buceros bicornis), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is predominantly frugivorous, but also preys on small mammals, reptiles, and birds. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2018. It is known to have lived for nearly 50 years in captivity. Due to its large size and colour, and importance in many tribal cultures and rituals, the Government of Kerala declared it as the official Kerala state bird. It is also the state bird of Arunachal Pradesh.

From the Wikipedia article “Great hornbill” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_hornbill&oldid=1384301060), 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.

Is the great hornbill endangered?

The great 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 great hornbill classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderBucerotiformes
  5. familyBucerotidae
  6. genusBuceros
  7. SpeciesBuceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms Buceros bicornis bicornis, Buceros cristatus, Meniceros bicornis

Other names and names in other languages (69)
  • Great Indian hornbillEnglish
  • Great pied hornbillEnglish
  • أبو قرن عملاقArabic
  • أبو قرن العملاقArabic
  • বৰধনেশAssamese
  • Голяма птица-носорогBulgarian
  • রাজ ধনেশBangla
  • Kalao daougornekBreton
  • calau bicorneCatalan
  • dvojzoborožec žlutozobýCzech
  • Cornbig Mawr BrithWelsh
  • Stor NæsehornsfuglDanish
  • DoppelhornvogelGerman
  • granda buceroEsperanto
  • Granda bunta buceroEsperanto
  • Cálao bicorneSpanish
  • suur-sarvlindEstonian
  • KalaoBasque
  • نوکشاخ بزرگPersian
  • keisarisarvinokkaFinnish
  • Calao bicorneFrench
  • קלאו בכירHebrew
  • Veliki hornbillCroatian
  • Konkavski potkani hornbillCroatian
  • Veliki indijski hornbillCroatian
  • Veliki pied hornbillCroatian
  • nagy szarvascsőrűmadárHungarian
  • Enggang papanIndonesian
  • Rangkong PapanIndonesian
  • Bucero maggioreItalian
  • Grande calao indianoItalian
  • オオサイチョウJapanese
  • កេងកងធំKhmer
  • ಗ್ರೇಟ್ ಇಂಡಿಯನ್ ಹಾರ್ನ್ ಬಿಲ್Kannada
  • 큰코뿔새Korean
  • didysis jaučiaragisLithuanian
  • Dviragis ragasnapisLithuanian
  • മലമുഴക്കിMalayalam
  • മലമുഴക്കി വേഴാമ്പൽMalayalam
  • गरुडMarathi
  • Burung Enggang PapanMalay
  • အောင်လောင်ငှက်Burmese
  • Tsídii bichʼahtsooígííNavajo
  • राजधनेशNepali
  • DubbelneushoornvogelDutch
  • Dubbelhoornige NeushoornvogelDutch
  • storhornfuglNorwegian
  • dzioborożec wielkiPolish
  • گریٹ ہارنبلWestern Panjabi
  • Calau bicórnioPortuguese
  • calau-bicórnioPortuguese
  • calau-malhado-grandePortuguese
  • ГомрайRussian
  • Двурогий калаоRussian
  • Большой индийский гомрайRussian
  • zobákorožec dvojrohýSlovak
  • dvorožecSlovenian
  • Veliki kljunorožacSerbian
  • större näshornsfågelSwedish
  • மலை இருவாட்சிTamil
  • นกกกThai
  • นกกาฮังThai
  • Büyük BoynuzgagaTurkish
  • гомрай дворогийUkrainian
  • Hồng hoàngVietnamese
  • 双角犀鸟Chinese
  • 印度大犀鳥Chinese
  • 大斑犀鳥Chinese
  • 雙角犀鳥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the great hornbill

Other species in the same genus Buceros.

CompareGreat hornbill vs Rhinoceros hornbillGreat hornbill vs Rufous hornbill

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the great hornbill?

The great hornbill is a bird in the family Bucerotidae and the order Bucerotiformes.

How heavy is the great hornbill?

Adults have a representative body mass of 2.8 kg, with reported values from 2.67 to 3.0 kg.

What does the great hornbill eat?

It is a frugivore whose main foods are ficus, lauraceae, myristicaceae and vitex altissima.

Is the great hornbill endangered?

It is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.

How long does the great hornbill live?

Its lifespan is given as 33.4 years.

How many eggs does the great hornbill lay?

It lays 2 eggs per clutch, and the incubation period is 31 days.

Does the great hornbill migrate?

No, the great hornbill is sedentary.

Who named the great hornbill?

Buceros bicornis was named by Linnaeus, 1758.

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). Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-hornbill

MLA

“Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-hornbill.

BibTeX
@misc{great_hornbill_2026,
  title = {Great hornbill (Buceros bicornis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-hornbill},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}