The species can be found in forest edge, open, moist deciduous and evergreen forests, riverine forest, secondary, logged forests and even gardens and agricultural fields. The species shows a preference for secondary growth, river-margin forests (Datta 1998). It is usually recorded in elevations up to 700 m. Flocks of up to 170 individuals have been recorded in Khao Yai National Park during the non-breeding season (Poonswad et al. 2013).

The species’s diet consists of figs, non-figs and animal prey (Smythies 1999, Wells 1999). 94% of the diet was figs and non-figs (in equal proportions) and 6% animal matter in the non-breeding season in Arunachal Pradesh (Datta and Rawat 2003). The species has also been seen feeding on papaya, rambutan, mango, banana and other cultivated fruit crops close to villages and beach resorts. Amongst wild fruits other than figs, it prefers Polyalthia, Horsfieldia, Strombosia and Dysoxylum. Animal prey include insects, centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, spiders, snails, earthworms, lizards, small birds and eggs, rats and sometimes fish and crabs from near streams (Poonswad et al. 2013). The species is adapting to urban conditions by taking advantage of feeding stations and taking leftovers from rubbish bins on Pulau Pangkor (C. A. Yeap pers. obs.) and attempting to snatch song birds in cages in Singapore (Stolarchuk 2018).
The species does not depend on primary forest habitat even for breeding, preferring forest edges, open woodland, coastal and riverine scrub and cultivation instead (Poonswad et al. 2013). Data collected in Piasau Nature Reserve in northern Sarawak suggests that the species may breed twice per year. Eggs are laid at different times of the year across various parts of the range; in February-April on the Asian mainland and in September-May on many Malaysian and Indonesian islands. In north-east India, nest entry is in the 1^st to 2^nd week of April and chicks fledge between June and July (Datta 2001). The nest is usually found up to a height of 30 m often in Dipterocarpus or Cliestocalyx in Thailand (Poonswad et al. 2013) and on Tetrameles nudiflora in north-east India (Datta 2001). The species often competes for nest cavities with several other hole-nesting birds such as Hill Mynas, Great Slaty Woodpeckers, Broad-billed Rollers and Red-breasted Parakeets, or bees and monitor lizards (Datta and Rawat 2004). The female lays 1-4 eggs which are incubated for 25-33 days, but usually only one or sometimes two chicks successfully fledge. The last chick to hatch is weak and is usually starved to death or eaten by the mother or the sibling. On average, the nesting cycle takes 85-90 days in Thailand (Poonswad et al. 2013) and 94 days in north-east India (Datta 2001).

Anthracoceros albirostris is a widespread resident in northern South Asia. It occurs in southern Nepal, southern China, southern Bhutan, northern Bangladesh, northern and north-eastern India, Myanmar, Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, in parts of Thailand, Singapore, north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia and western Indonesia and Brunei.
In Thailand, it is the most common and most abundant hornbill in many forest complexes, except in the north and north-east (Poonswad et al. 2013). Also in Bangladesh, it is the most widespread hornbill, but shows declining trends over the past ten years (S. Chowdhury in litt. 2020).

In India, the species is among the most common hornbills and is abundant in the northern, eastern and north-eastern part of the country. Its range overlaps with that of the Malabar Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros coronatus in Jharkand, Bihar, Odisha and north-eastern Andhra Pradesh. Both species are recorded in north-eastern Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, albeit in different areas (A. Datta in litt. 2020, eBird 2020). The species is observed in small cities and towns in India, including highly urbanised cities with large areas of green cover, like Chandigarh and Delhi (A. Datta in litt. 2020). The record from Chandigarh is among the westernmost record of this species (Datta et al. 2018).
In Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, the species is found in protected and non-protected areas (Kemp and Kemp 1974, Davies and Payne 1982, Siti Hawa Yatim et al. 1985, Davison 1987, Muda and Suib 1989, Wells 1990, Chong 1993, Siti Hawa Yatim 1993, Davison 1995, Chong 1998, Smythies 1999, Wells 1999, Lim and Tan 2000, Ong et al. 2000, Choo and Teresa 2001, Norsham and Teresa 2001, Sheldon et al. 2001, Sim and Liam 2001, Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim 2002, Tuen 2005, Styring et al. 2011, Yong et al. 2011, David et al. 2017, McKenzie and Tuyah 2017, Unggang et al. 2017). Most of these areas have been identified as Important Hornbill Landscapes (IHL), which are designated as Important Bird Areas and linked to the Central Forest Spine Masterplan for Peninsular Malaysia (Yeap and Perumal in press).

Conservation Measures Underway
The species occurs in many protected areas throughout its range, including Rajaji National Park Corbett Tiger Reserve, Buxa Tiger Reserve, Nameri and Pakke Tiger Reserves, Dihing-Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary/Jeypore Reserved Forest (India), Khao Yai National Park (Thailand) and Taman Negara National Park (Malaysia).

Community-based conservation programmes, such as the Hornbill Nest Adoption Programs in north-east India, protects the nest trees of the species, monitors breeding and protects the species from being hunted. In a nine-year period, annually, an average of around 10 chicks fledged successfully from 10 to 22 protected and monitored nests (Datta and Pradhan 2019). In Singapore, the provision of artificial nest boxes in 2005 installed by the Singapore Hornbill Project in Pulau Ubin, Istana and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR) has secured the return of the species as a nesting breeder, with 50-60 individuals in 2010 (Cremades et al. 2011, Ng et al. 2011, Cremades and Ng 2012, G. Davison in litt. 2012). Between 2008 and 2013, individuals were reintroduced to three locations in Singapore.
19 individuals (including 9 males, 9 females and one juvenile in 2020) are kept in zoos across Europe. A very small captive population of less than 5 individuals in North America shows little breeding success.

Conservation Measures Proposed
Conduct research to determine the population size and trend.