Helmeted Hornbills have interested me since I first saw one in Borneo in 1987. But it took me years to capture the image I wanted of this spectacular but rare and little known bird of the Southeast Asian rainforest. Read the story below of how I captured this favorite image.
Helmeted Hornbill Landing
Helmeted Hornbills have been a major focus of my wildlife photojournalism efforts in recent years. In addition to articles in National Geographic magazine and Living Bird, I collaborated with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Rangkong Indonesia to produce a short film called “Hunting the Helmeted Hornbill”. I’m excited to announce that since premiering last year at Mountainfilm, this film has been circulating to different film festivals. Most recently, it was featured at the New York Wild Film Festival on Feb 29, and then on March 3, World Wildlife Day, it was a finalist in the United Nations Development Program’s film showcase event at UN Headquarters. It’s important and exciting that this film is getting out there and reaching more people. It’s 12 minutes long, and features not only footage of wild helmeted hornbills, but tells the story of the poaching pressure they face. If you haven’t viewed it, you can now watch it on the Cornell Lab’s YouTube channel here:
Hunting The Helmeted Hornbill
And please share this film with your network, especially if you have any connections in Asia, where the hornbill products are primarily consumed. We even have a version in Chinese so please reach out if you would like to share that one. The best way we can reduce hornbill poaching is by educating potential consumers about the source of these products and the harm they are doing by buying them. I hope that together we can make a different for this iconic species.
Gallery Update: We regularly add new images to my galleries at www.timlamanfineart.com. Recent additions include hummingbirds from Sunnylands added to the open edition paper prints category, and also a collection of favorite East Africa images from my recent trips. Please have a look!
Warm regards to all!
Tim