A hornbill in Singapore was at it again, turning a pet bird in a cage into a meal.

A video uploaded on April 4 to the Singapore Wildlife Sightings Facebook group showed a hornbill casually catching a caged bird in its enormous beak and eating it.

The whole process, which lasted about one-and-a-half minutes, was akin to shooting fish in a barrel.

The video was shot from bottom-up by observers, likely at a block of flats in an HDB estate.

What the video showed

The video started with the hornbill hopping off one cage on the far right, almost as if it was picking the right prey, and the viewer can almost hear the gears of its bird brain cranking:

Picked its prey

Out of four possible cages to choose from, it then hopped to the cage on the far left, almost as if it had made up its mind which was the tastiest bird on display:

Bit pet bird through cage

After hopping on the cage on the far left, and almost by magic, the hornbill caught the pet bird with its beak, and in one fluid motion, yanks the smaller bird out through the tiny gap between the grills of the bird cage.

In other words, the hornbill did not even break the cage.

The pet bird flapped its wings and chirped uncontrollably as one wing appeared mangled.

Within seconds, it was dead and silent as the hornbill readjusted its prey in its mouth by chomping on it.

This cannibalistic scene of a hornbill eating a bird has been observed in Singapore previously.

What observers said

Voices in the background could be heard throughout the video.

Initially, before the hornbill picked its prey, one voice which sounded like it belonged to a woman, said: "Think he is going to break the cage."

Another voice, which sounded like a little girl, then said when the hornbill bit its prey: "Oh, he took the bird."

The voice that sounded like it came from the woman, said when the pet bird was bitten: "Where is the owner?"

Hornbills are omnivores

Hornbills are omnivores.

They eat mainly fruit, but may also feed on insects and small animals from time to time.

They are known to forage in pairs or small groups.

Such scenes of wildlife interacting with domesticated animals have been seen before.