Superstition in the northern parts of South Africa has it that you place the feather of a southern groundhornbill in a dry river bed if you want to break a drought. Here, these charismatic red-and-black birds are called rainbirds. Some people would even warn you to remember to pick up that feather later on, otherwise it won’t stop raining.
Seeing a southern ground-hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) stalking through tall grass, foraging, is an amazing sight. These birds grow up to 1 m tall and can easily weigh 5 kg.
And if you’re wondering why some people call them thunderbirds, you should wind down your window the next time you encounter one somewhere in the north of the country, like in the Kruger National Park. Their distinctive booming call – a deep, resounding doo-doo doo-doo doo-doodoo – can come as quite a shock when you hear it for the first time. They use it to mark their territory and it can be heard up to 4 km away.
Breeding and growing
The southern ground-hornbill is related to the noisy and much smaller grey hornbill and yellow- and red-billed hornbills. Adult southern groundhornbills have a red face and wattles, whereas the wattles of
