[2] This group of conspicuous birds have mainly whitish underparts and head, grey upperparts, long tails, and a long curved red bill which lacks a casque.

They are generally large, at 42 centimetres (17 in) long, but the entire group is considered one of the smaller hornbills.

During incubation, the female lays three to six white eggs in a tree hole that has been converted to a nest, which is blocked off with a plaster of mud, droppings and fruit pulp, with her inside, where she remains for a time after the eggs are hatched.

The female red-billed hornbill protects her young against intruders by building a wall across the opening of her nest.

They are omnivorous, taking and eating insects, fruit, seeds and even small rodents.