Athirappilly: When a male hornbill, while searching food for its mate and young ones, was hit and run over by a vehicle in the forest path, its little birdling was starving in the nest sealed with mud. A few people found berries inside the beak of the dead bird.

They knew that the mother bird would be waiting for food in the nest. They searched for the nest for hours and finally found it atop a 25 feet single trunk tree. Some of them climbed the tree using a bamboo ladder and fed the mother bird with fig fruit and wild jackfruit.

The male Malabar Grey Hornbill died when it was hit by a vehicle in the Puliyilappara region in Athirappilly. The bird lovers found its nest and fed the birdling and mother by Thursday afternoon. They keep feeding the birds every hour.

Male hornbill that died after hit by a vehicle while returning with berries for its birdling

The female hornbill never comes out of the sealed nest until two weeks after its egg hatches. Till then, it puts out only its beak through a small hole from the nest to get the berries brought by the male bird. This continues until the mother bird comes out breaking the nest.

The bird lovers fed and saved the mother hornbill and the birdling, which could have starved to death in the closed nest otherwise. Birdwatcher Baiju K. Vasudevan, who initiated to rescue the birds, said that the hornbills take food only after digesting the food consumed earlier.

They found the nest assuming that the male bird flew so low as to be hit by a vehicle, because its nest could be somewhere near. They also received help from the forest department.

Rescuers climb the bamboo ladder to reach the hornbill nest

Birdwatchers Sudheesh Thattekkad, forest watchers Ouseph, Ajeesh Gopi, Jayan and Rahul are still present on the spot to help the bird family. The mother bird is expected to come out of the nest within 3-4 days. After that, the mother will manage to find food for the birdling.