Short NoteEgg-capping in the Southern Ground-Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri

Abstract

Egg-capping’ describes occurrences of the empty shell from a hatched egg slipping over an unhatched egg from the same clutch. It is a rare phenomenon, occurring typically in <2% of nests monitored. Here I report the first two observed cases of egg-capping in the endangered Southern Ground-Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri. In north-eastern South Africa, egg-capping occurred in 4.3% of nests that contained two eggs with one or more surviving to hatching.

Keywords: Associated Private Nature Reserves, Bucorvus leadbeateri, egg-capping, Southern Ground-Hornbill

OSTRICH 2014, 85(1): 89–91