Travelling The US With Hornbills!

That's right! Its time to take a road trip with hornbills! I analyzed which collections within the AZA and its partners hold the various species and decided that if anyone would like to visit all the species currently in the US there ought to be a guide to which route would be the best to take to see the most species in a reasonable route. Here is what I came up with. This list is as of early December of last year but I think it's still good. I found out that all of the species can be visited in the South and Southwest so I hope this list makes sense. Some of these zoos hold the same species, I put them together in this order for driving route purposes.


Driving route via Google Maps.

1. The first stop is Memphis Zoo which holds the only pair of Yellow-Casqued Hornbills (Ceratogymna elata). they also hold Red-Billeds (Tockus erythrorhynchus) as well. Other stops in Memphis can include stopping to see Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion, the National Civil Rights Museum, the Rock n' Soul Museum and others depending upon what you want to see.

Yellow-Casqued Hornbill exhibit by @Moebelle

2. Now we will be heading southwest to Texas to the Fort Worth Zoo where we will be viewing Abyssinian Ground (Bucorvus abyssinicus) and Wrinkled Hornbills (Rhabdotorrhinus corrugatus) before making our way east to Dallas. Other sites to visit can include the Fort Worth Stockyards, Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and Kimbell Art Museum.

Abyssinian Ground Hornbills by @jbnbsn99

3. Traveling east to Dallas we stop at the Dallas World Aquarium where we can view the Eastern Yellow Billed (Tockus flavirostris), Rhinoceros (Buceros rhinoceros) & Blyth’s (Rhyticeros plicatus) hornbills.

Photo of Blyth's Hornbill by @jayjds2

4. Make sure to also make time for the Dallas Zoo, which also has Wreathed Hornbills (Rhyticeros undulatus) to see as well as perhaps Six Flags Over Texas and the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.
Wreathed Hornbill exhibit by @geomorph

5. Traveling several hours southeast, stop at the Houston Zoo where you can see both the Great Indian (Buceros bicornis) & Crowned Hornbill (Tockus alboterminatus). While in Houston be sure to check out the museum district with the Houston Museum of Natural Science as well as the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

Great Hornbill exhibit by @Baldur

6. Heading east leads us to Lamont, FL near Tallahassee where the North Florida Wildlife Center is located. At this private facility in which you'll need to schedule a tour you can see Black-Casqued Hornbills (Ceratogymna atrata) & the only White-Thighed Hornbill (Bycanistes albotibialis) left in America, a female named Matilda.


Photo of Matilda from here.

7. Now we drive east to the first coast where America's oldest city is. St. Augustine is renowned not only for its history, but also a special gem for fans of Crocodilians, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. Located on Anastasia Island, it not only holds all the species of crocodilians, but also two rare hornbills in collections. These are the White-Crowned (Berenicornis comatus) & Knobbed (Rhyticeros cassidix) hornbills. They also have a world-renowned wading bird rookery that draws birders and photographers every nesting season. Make sure to also make time to stop by the Castillo de San Marcos or Pirate & Treasure Museum to fully enjoy St. Augustine's history.

White Crowned Hornbill by @Sarus Crane

8. The last stop on the tour is Tampa to visit Zoo Tampa, where you can see Southern Ground (Bucorvus leadbeateri), Trumpeter (Bycanistes buccinator), Silvery Cheeked (Bycanistes brevis), Sulawesi (Rhabdotorrhinus exarhatus) and Von der Decken (Tockus deckeni) hornbills. Before heading out of Tampa make sure to stop by at Busch Gardens for a day or two and be sure to ride Iron Gwazi, Montu, Kumba, Sheikra and the rest of their great coaster collection.

Sulawesi Hornbill by @zoo_enthusiast

Well that's it for the tour. I know I probably missed a species or two but since so many facilities have overlapping hornbill species in their collections I figured this order may be the best way to go.

 

ZooTampa still has great Indian hornbills, I believe. They may be off display, but sometimes they are out. Last time I was there you could see them in the off display area if you looked behind the tomistoma from the walkway between the amphitheater and tomistoma. They may use them in one of the shows, I am not sure.

 

I had heard they were off show for a year or two so that's why I didn't include them. Also, it'd be nice to know whether Miami still has a pair or not in their Wings of Asia aviary.

 

They also have long-tailed hornbill and wreathed hornbill

 

This is a fun idea, road trips for specific groups!

 

I really like the idea of this thread, trying to make the most efficient route to see all of the members of a taxa within a geographic area. Some are easier than others, such as all of the crocodilians currently held at St. Augustine, as mentioned.

 

Actually, according to a picture in the Gallery here they are back in the main aviary:
Aviary - Great Indian Horbill - ZooChat

 

If I started a new trend by doing this, then yay!!!

 

I might need to give this a try lol

 

I guess not in your part of the US but I seem to recall that the San Diego Safari park had back in the 80s a wonderful collection of Hornbills l do not know if this is still the case today

 

Might be a slight detour but the Jackson Zoo in Jackson, Mississippi has black hornbills.

 

Does Dallas not have Jackson's Hornbill anymore?

~Thylo

 

Dallas does still have a single male Jackson's, but he is not on display.

 

They don't have very many on display at all now, only ground hornbills I think. The zoo still has a fair few.

If they actually have Anthracoceros malayanus that's news to me. I highly doubt that's the correct species.

 

idk my hornbills apart so here's the link to some pictures of the "black hornbill"

The Jackson Zoo

 

Sadly Houston's bird collection has been decimated due to the recent construction. They only had 40 species on display when I visited last year. This included 0 species of hornbill at the time. They likely still have some behind the scenes though, yet with the closure of the bird garden, bird house, and other bird exhibits in the area none can be seen. Essentially 2/3 of the birds are in the new South American section. My hope is that once Galapagos is done next year, they can reopen some of the still standing bird row.

 

Wow, it is indeed Black Hornbill Anthracoceros malayanus, very interesting! I've added that to the hornbills document for the upcoming update.

 

I noted this species at Wildlife World in 2018 but I have no clue if it's still around. They also had a White-Thighed Hornbill at the time.

A handful of species I noticed are missing from this thread at Oriental Pied Hornbill, African Pied Hornbill, African Grey Hornbill (no idea if in a public zoo), and Piping Hornbill (also no idea if these are in a zoo). CITES records show that Mindanao Rufous Hornbills have been imported into the country in recent years, though I don't think any are on-display anywhere.

I think there is also a breeding center on the Florida panhandle with a Penelopides sp. but I can't remember the name or which species.

~Thylo

 

Montgomery I think has a rare hornbill species.

 

According to website, Crowned Hornbill (Tockus alboterminatus):

Old World Aviary | City of Montgomery, AL

As far as how up to date the website is, Montgomery is very rarely visited by anyone on this forum it seems. @tschandler71 comes to mind as somebody who might know.