Ecological Environment Improves Year on Year; Rare Birds Flock to Beijing
A flock of swans resides in the Yanhu Wetland Nature Reserve in Yancheng, Beijing. Photo by Xinhua News Agency, Li Xin.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 2 (Xinhua reporter Wei Mengjia) A group of swans were grooming their feathers in the water, not far away, a flock of gray cranes were foraging. Recently, such heartwarming scenes have frequently appeared in the government reservoirs in the Yancheng district of Beijing.
April 1st is the 38th China Bird Watching Week in Beijing. In the season when migratory birds pass through Beijing, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Garden and Forestry revealed that as of the 1st, a total of 1.4 million migratory birds have been monitored in 88 migratory bird monitoring stations across the city. Among the vast number of migrating birds, including Oriental White Stork, Yellow-billed Ducks, Tibetan Shrike, Black Stork and other rare species, many have visited Beijing.
Beijing is located in the transition zone between subtropical and subarctic climates, which is a vital passage for many migratory birds to pass through during spring and autumn. It is also an important transit station in the world's bird migration channel. About 300 species of migratory and traveling birds pass through or stop over here annually.
Swans are a 'regular' visitor to Beijing, and they 'rest' here every spring, with an average number of about three to five hundred. This year, the number of swans arriving in groups in Beijing has reached more than 1000, mainly consisting of Mute Swans and Lesser Snow Swans. This has surprised many bird watchers, who exclaimed that this is Beijing's 'swan harvest year'.
According to monitoring by the park department, this spring, the resting area chosen by the swans is wider than in previous years. In addition to resting in their traditional habitats such as Miyun Reservoir, Yancheng Reservoir, Huairou Reservoir, Thirteen Ling Reservoir, Yanhu Lake and Wu Yan River, the swans have also landed in Qingshi River, Beijing Olympic Forest Park, Lian Shi Lake and other places.
Oriental White Stork is a first-class protected animal in China. There are only a few thousand individuals worldwide. According to bird experts, they usually migrate along the coast, and it is rare to see them in Beijing. In the past, they occasionally appeared in some waters in Beijing, generally one or two individuals. But this year, 12 Oriental White Storks were monitored in Beijing.
On the banks of Big Stone River in Fangshan District, Beijing, researchers discovered two flocks of Yellow-billed Ducks. This bird species is listed as 'Vulnerable' in the 'Red List of Threatened Species of the World Wildlife Fund'. Last spring, Yellow-billed Ducks visited Beijing's Big Stone River and South Sea River for the first time, and this spring is their second appearance.
Black Storks have settled in the Hu River and Da River areas due to the good environment. After nearly 20 years of protection, the number of Black Storks in this area has stabilized at around 40-50, and peaked at around 70.
'Bird-of-paradise' Tibetan Shrike has recently appeared in Wanping Lake in Yanqing District, Beijing. This rare and endemic bird species in China lives in reed marshes and is sparsely populated.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Garden and Forestry's Wild Animal and Wetland Protection Department Director Zhang Zhi Ming said that in recent years, the places where migratory birds 'rest' in Beijing have become increasingly wide, and more and more bird species that were not often seen in Beijing in the past have appeared. 'Beijing's ecological environment is gradually improving, and the increasing number of migratory birds passing through here is a result.'
'Birds are an indicator animal to measure the biodiversity, integrity and ecological quality of a region.' Bird expert, Vice Professor of Capital Normal University, Gao Wu said, 'Having food, having water, and safety are the basic conditions for birds to choose a region for rest and replenishment during migration. If these conditions are not met, they will abandon 'feeding stations' and continue migrating.'
Thanks to years of afforestation and wetland construction, the total forest and wetland resources in Beijing are continuously increasing. In 2019, the newly planted greening area across the city was 280,000 mu and the urban green area was 803 hectares; by the end of 2019, the forest coverage rate of the city reached 44%, and the urban green coverage rate reached 48.46%. In recent years, Beijing has focused on realizing the interconnectedness of forest lands in greening construction, considering the needs of wild animals, and planting various food plants suitable for the habitats of birds and other wild animals.
Starting this year, the 88 terrestrial wildlife epidemic and disease monitoring stations in Beijing have increased their monitoring frequency and expanded their monitoring range, and strengthened inspections in key areas where migratory birds concentrate, such as wetlands, reservoirs, rivers and parks.
Zhang Zhi Ming said that recently the city has increased its enforcement checks, in addition to ground patrols, drones are also used to 'escort' migratory birds, to prevent illegal hunting and capture and destruction of wildlife habitats. 'We hope that migratory birds can enjoy a good environment in Beijing'.
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