Photographer captures record 17 collared falconets in Yunnan

陈小将

The previous record for the number of collared falconets in a single image was set in 2022, when a photographer captured fifteen birds at once. [Photo by Yin Yihu/For chinadaily.com.cn]

A photographer in Yingjiang county, Yunnan province, recently captured seventeen collared falconets in a single image, surpassing the previous national record of 15 individuals photographed together in 2022, according to the county's integrated media center.

The rare sighting was made on Friday in Chinese Hornbill Valley, part of the Benghe area within the Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve. Footage shows the tiny raptors perched calmly on branches, some preening one another.