China birds

A question to a Chinese PhD student: 'Do people have bird tables in China?'. Answer -'In China people do not like to feed the bird. People like to eat the bird'.

China shows extensive ecological devastation. Nine of the ten most polluted cities in the world are in China, and animals are eaten out of existence in many parts of the country. Large areas of forest were destroyed during 'The Great Leap Forward' when Mao ordered people to build furnaces to make steel in their households. Finding birds can be difficult.

The commonest birds in the cities are tree sparrows.

tree sparrow

In Beijing, magpies and azure-winged magpies are common.

azure-winged magpie

I also saw kestrel, swift, and swallow. A visit to Beijing Zoo produced large-billed crows. The gulls at the zoo lake were free-flying (and breeding), and posed some interesting identification challenges.

Beijing gull

Beijing gull

The top bird is an adult black-tailed gull Larus crassirostris. The bottom bird with pink legs and a lighter mantle is probably an adult Vega gull Larus vegae.

At East China Normal University in Shanghai I saw light-vented bulbuls, blackbirds, white wagtail, brown shrike, red-rumped swallow, Chinese pond heron and black-crowned night heron.

night heron

The commonest birds around the research centre W of Beijing were Daurian redstarts, a male of which is shown below.

Daurian redstart

Red-billed blue magpies were the most spectacular birds in the area, and made a lot of melodious calls. I also saw great spotted woodpecker, tawny owl, black drongo, great tit and spotted dove here.

spotted dove

A walk around the peak at Baicaopan (2050m) allowed me to see a warbler that looked like a Radde's, but which must have been a yellow-streaked warbler from the distribution patterns, though the song didn't match the field guide description. Common rosefinches fed in the meadow areas.

common rosefinch

Back to July 2006