Survey finds 1 million waterfowl of 109 species in Yangtze delta region
Wetland locations involved in a 10-day survey in January, the first synchronous investigation of its kind that involved 118 wetlands in the Yangtze River Delta region.
More than 1 million waterfowl of 109 species were spotted in the Yangtze River Delta region, according to a report released on Tuesday.
A 10-day survey in January, the first synchronous investigation of its kind that involved 118 wetlands in the region, recorded 1,150,958 wintering waterfowl of 109 species in total, according to the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau.
Among them, 106,508 migratory waterfowl of 65 species were recorded in Shanghai, 436,583 of 82 species in Jiangsu Province, 130,936 of 79 species in Zhejiang Province, and 476,931 of 66 species in Anhui Province.
Red-crowned cranes spotted during the survey.
The most commonly seen waterfowl groups were wild goose and duck, accounting for 69 percent of the total.
Bean goose, Eastern spot-billed duck and shelduck were the most frequently spotted birds, according to the bureau.
Ducks
Among these avian creatures, 13 species are under first-class national protection, and 16 are under second-class protection.
Sixteen are globally threatened species, and two are critically endangered.
The largest species of waterfowl was spotted in the Chongming Dongtan Bird National Nature Reserve in Shanghai, the Andong Wetland in Zhejiang, and the Caizi Lake and Shengjin Lake National Nature Reserve in Anhui.
Hooded cranes
The bureau said the findings provide scientific proof for further protection of waterfowl and habitats in key areas of the East Asia-Australasia migration zone, and for strengthened coordination for protecting biodiversity in the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region.
Carrying out the survey
