The Meghalaya state bird rescue: hornbills, power lines and a rehabilitation wing

Meghalaya’s hornbills, the state’s emblem, are dying on power lines at a rate that alarmed even veteran foresters — and the state has opened its first hornbill rehabilitation wing to do something about it.

The wing treats electrocuted and injured birds, then releases them in the forests where their nesting trees remain.

Conservationists are also working with the power utility to insulate the dangerous stretches of line.