Great hornbill
Scientific name: Buceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758
Overview
The great hornbill, 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”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Southern Asia.
Common names
Names in other languages (12)
- Arabic
- أبو قرن عملاق
- Bengali
- রাজ ধনেশ
- Chinese
- 双角犀鸟
- French
- Calao bicorne
- German
- Doppelhornvogel
- Hindi
- hornbill
- Indonesian
- Enggang papan, Rangkong papan
- Japanese
- オオサイチョウ
- Persian
- نوکشاخ بزرگ
- Portuguese
- calau-bicórnio, calau-malhado-grande
- Russian
- Гомрай, Двурогий калао
- Spanish
- Cálao bicorne
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q232768, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Great hornbill”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Shantanu Kuveskar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — L. Shyamal, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026