Tockus fasciatus The Congo pied hornbill (Lophoceros fasciatus) is a bird of the hornbill family, a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World.

The female lays up to four white eggs in a tree hole, which is blocked off during incubation with a cement made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp.

There is only one narrow aperture, just big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and the chicks.

This conspicuous and gregarious bird advertises its presence with its whistling pii-pii-pii-pii- call.

When the chicks and the female are too big to fit in the nest, the mother breaks out and rebuilds the wall.