China Travel

Migratory birds wintering in south rally at Poyang Lake to fly north 2023/2/24 source: International Daily Print

Migratory birds spending winter at the lower latitude regions in China are rallying at the Poyang Lake, the country's largest freshwater lake and the largest wintering habitat for birds in Asia, on their journey to the north as the weather is getting warm.


Recent rains have raised the water level of the lake, revitalizing the lake after a severe drought in the favor of birds, including wild geese, cygnets, common cranes and oriental white storks, in their preparation for the migratory journey.

A group of oriental white storks, and other birds under the first or second class of state protection such as white cranes, white-naped cranes, hooded cranes, common cranes, common spoonbills and cygnets, were spotted Saturday flying above the water, combing feathers in grass and foraging in the Zhupaoshan and Sanshan sections of the lake, presenting magnificent views.

"Before returning to the north, the migratory birds forage more frequently to store enough energy for the upcoming journey," said Li Yue, director of the Duchang County Migratory Bird Nature Reserve Administration.

Hundreds of thousands migratory birds, including 80 percent of white cranes and oriental white storks in the world and over 70 percent of white-naped cranes spend winter at Poyang Lake every year. They usually arrive at the lake in October and return to the north from mid-February to mid-April of the following year.

For the safety of the migratory birds, the public security bureau of Duchang and migratory bird protection and fishery administrations have set up a joint patrol and law enforcement team and taken various of measures to enhance protection.

"To guarantee the safety of migratory birds before they return to the north, we have enhanced patrols around the lake area while stationing personnel at the Zhupaoshan and Sanshan sections of the lake to guard against any illegal human conducts that may hurt or disrupt the migratory birds," Li said.


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