Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is helping to breed millions of birds along the Sino-Kazakh border to protect the farmlands from locusts in the Kazakhstan side.

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is helping to breed millions of starlings along the Sino-Kazakh border to protect the farmlands from locusts in the Kazakhstan side. [Photo from www.dili360.com]

Nests were built to attract starlings, a migratory bird, feeding mainly on insects, said Mu Chen, expert with the Regional Locust and Rodent Control Headquarters on Sunday.

Locust and rodent control staff had the red birds'habitat fenced, to protect them.

The regional government in early April warned that the locusts would be fully grown before mid-July and fly across the border, damaging thousands of hectares of crops and pastures in northern Xinjiang.