Two “beautiful” great green macaw chicks have been bred and reared at Chester Zoo for the first time.

The pair, which hatched in April, have spent three months hidden inside their nest with parents Royan and Dresden.

Zoe Sweetman, assistant team manager of parrots and penguins at the zoo, said: “It’s been a wonderful experience to watch the youngsters develop from tiny, naked and helpless chicks when they first hatched to the huge, beautiful birds we see now.

“It’s an incredible achievement for the whole zoo team to have bred these iconic birds for the first time.”

Scientists estimate that the endangered birds, native to forests of central and south America, now have a global population of fewer than 2,500.

Andrew Owen, curator of birds at the zoo, said: “Global populations of the great green macaw have been decimated by more than 50% in just the last three generations.

“To have successfully reared these magnificent birds, just a few months after the parents arrived here in Chester, is therefore really wonderful news.”