Crossword clues for hornbill
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hornbill \Horn"bill`\, n. (Zo["o]l.) Any bird of the family Bucerotid[ae], of which about sixty species are known, belonging to numerous genera. They inhabit the tropical parts of Asia, Africa, and the East Indies, and are remarkable for having a more or less horn-like protuberance, which is usually large and hollow and is situated on the upper side of the beak. The size of the hornbill varies from that of a pigeon to that of a raven, or even larger. They feed chiefly upon fruit, but some species eat dead animals.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. Any of various birds of the family Bucerotidae, with bills resembling a cow's horn. Many species have a casque above the bill, and many imprison their young in a tree.
WordNet
n. bird of tropical Africa and Asia having a very large bill surmounted by a bony protuberance; related to kingfishers
Wikipedia
The hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family refer to the shape of the bill, "buceros" being "cow horn" in Greek. Hornbills have a two-lobed kidney. They are the only birds in which the first and second neck vertebrae (the atlas and axis respectively) are fused together; this probably provides a more stable platform for carrying the bill. The family is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and small animals. They are monogamous breeders nesting in natural cavities in trees and sometimes cliffs. A number of species of hornbill are threatened with extinction, mostly insular species with small ranges.
A hornbill is a group of birds characterized by a long, down-curved bill, sometimes with a casque on the upper mandible.
Hornbill may also refer to:
- Hornbill Films, a Chicago based film distribution and production company
- Hornbill Skyways, a regional charter helicopter service operating in towns and rural area in Sarawak, Malaysia
- USS Hornbill, US Navy warships, active in World War II
- Hawker Hornbill, 1925 military aircraft prototype
Usage examples of "hornbill".
Grey-headed kingfisher, pied hornbill, black-capped oriole, a flock of superb starlings which were just that, blue-collared, red breasted, green in the wings, and, best of all, a bateleur eagle, cruising beneath a perfectly unblemished blue sky, not soaring, just moving steadily forwards without, apparently, moving its wings.
Kroo python that Square addressed in a respectful chant and that watched them, turning its head, as they paced meekly by, the seven different hornbills, the two pangolins, the large variety of beetles of course and a scorpion seven and a half inches long, together with sun-birds and weavers.
In the village he had been a good hunter, bringing back tree kangaroos, monitor lizards, rats, hornbills, and crowned pigeons.
He had of course told Jack of the pygmy hippopotamus, the red bush pig, the froward elephant that chased him into a baobab tree, the baythighed monkeys, the chimpanzees (mild, curious, though timid), a terrestrial orchid higher than himself, with rose-pink flowers, the Kroo python that Square addressed in a respectful chant and that watched them, turning its head, as they paced meekly by, the seven different hornbills, the two pangolins, the large variety of beetles of course and a scorpion seven and a half inches long, together with sun-birds and weavers.
Hornbills, cockatoos, fairy bluebirds and doves fluttered among the trees, filling the air with song and with color.
He had of course told Jack of the pygmy hippopotamus, the red bush pig, the froward elephant that chased him into a baobab tree, the baythighed monkeys, the chimpanzees (mild, curious, though timid), a terrestrial orchid higher than himself, with rose-pink flowers, the Kroo python that Square addressed in a respectful chant and that watched them, turning its head, as they paced meekly by, the seven different hornbills, the two pangolins, the large variety of beetles of course and a scorpion seven and a half inches long, together with sun-birds and .