The silvery-cheeked hornbill is a glossy black bird with a white lower abdomen, bare blue skin around the eyes and black feet and legs. Silvery-tipped feathers on the face give the bird its name. A large creamy casque tops the male’s brown bill. The female is smaller with a reduced casque. Not much is known about the casque, but it is probably used in recognition of others and for amplifying calls. The casque may also be used in fighting, or to knock down fruit. Often found in pairs, or flocks, the birds are noisy and bold. Vocalizations include loud quacking, braying, barks and grunts.

As are most hornbills, the silvery-cheeked is a cavity nester in trees, rock faces and earth banks. Both sexes seal the nest, except for a narrow vertical slit. The female uses mud initially and later droppings, mixed with food remains. The male forms special pellets of mud and saliva in his gullet, which he applies to the entrance. The female breaks out of the nest when the chicks are about half-grown and helps to feed them. The chicks reseal the nest, except for the vertical slit, and break out when they are ready to fly. While inside the nest, the female undergoes a complete feather molt.

Food is brought to the nest as a gullet full of fruits, which are regurgitated one at a time. Food remains and droppings are passed out the vertical slit. At one observed silvery-cheeked hornbill nest, it was estimated the male delivered 24,000 fruits, in the course of the 120-day breeding cycle. That figures about 200 fruits a day!