Rare footage of great hornbill couple breeding chicks in Yunnan

Recently, rare footage of a great hornbill couple breeding chicks was captured in Tongbiguan Nature Reserve, Yingjiang County of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

It is currently the breeding season for great hornbills. The male and female will find a tree hollow, and turn it into a "nursery" for their future babies. During the breeding period, the mother and the chicks remain in the hollow, and the father is busy finding food for the family. According to Ban Dingying, a local bird lover, the male bird could be seen as "a model husband".

The great hornbill is listed as "Near-Threatened" in the IUCN Red List, and is under the second-class state protection in China. It mainly feeds on fruits, sometimes will prey on snakes, lizards and insects. In China, it is only distributed in the Xishuangbanna area of Yunnan Province.

Editor: John Li