Hunan in December is still warm, and recently, a special migratory bird group in Harbin went south to Dongting Lake. These migratory birds include the blue-throated singing plover, the red-throated singing plover, the yellow-throated bunting, etc., and there are a total of 8 species. The group was organized by five volunteers, and the initiator, Song Yongbin, was a police officer in the Food and Drug and Environmental Crime Investigation Detachment of the Harbin Municipal Public Security Bureau. Due to the "passengers" as many as 206, coupled with the impact of the epidemic, they rented a motorhome. Volunteers share different roles, namely bird experts, doctors, breeders and drivers, and also pay all the costs of traveling south, spanning more than 2,800 kilometers in 8 provinces and regions in two days, and finally using "migratory bird caravans" to safely deliver these special "passengers" to their destinations...
Images courtesy of interviewees
Police and volunteers launch 'Migratory Bird Caravan'
Entering the winter, Officer Song Yongbin became increasingly worried, and he was worried about the fate of more than 200 stranded migratory birds.
The migratory birds are housed on the top floor of a property office building on Nineteenth Avenue Street in Daowai District, Harbin City, and under the careful care of volunteers, although the living conditions are not bad, they are a temporary shelter after all.
Officer Song introduced that these migratory birds mainly come from three channels, the first is because of hunger and cold, dying and waiting to be rescued by people or rescued on the sticky bird network; the second is the police crackdown on illegal trade in wild animals, confiscated in the market; the third is because of the beautiful plumage, was caught in the flower and bird market for sale of migratory birds, they were raised by the citizens in the bird cage, after repeated persuasion by volunteers, handed over to the animal protection department.
The temporary shelters for migratory birds are provided by volunteers, "although the breeding grounds are free, I think they should be allowed to return to nature." Officer Song said that what really made him think of "migratory bird caravan" was a video about Dongting Lake, which was lined with trees and the temperature could reach more than ten degrees above zero, which made Officer Song, who has been living in the north for a long time, shine.
Overfishing causes stranding, owing migratory birds a "return ticket"
It is not possible to fly directly, why do you have to be escorted by personnel? Duke, a volunteer, said that the birds were actually stranded in the north by unscrupulous bird catchers, so that they missed the opportunity to move back, "We owe them a ticket home." ”
Duke, a member of the bird delivery group, is a staff member of the Suihua Municipal Bureau of Quality Supervision, and he believes that it is easy to freeze to death when releasing migratory birds in the north this season, "don't let go, stay in the rescue station for more than three months, migratory birds have been raised to stay birds", some birds may be dependent on humans and have a good feeling, which is unfavorable for the survival of the wild.
According to volunteers, in the past, some of the rescued birds themselves were southern birds, and they could not fly back when released in the north, so such birds could not be released, and some were sent to the zoo to become ornamental birds.
"By the end, it's almost hot potato." The relevant personnel of the Harbin Food and Drug Ring Detachment, who were also responsible for rescue and escort this time, said that the more migratory birds were rescued, the more difficult it would be to take care of them in the later stage.
They have roughly calculated that the birds in the temporary rescue station are vegetarian and meat-eating. Vegetarian birds feed mainly on millet and suzi, and each bird can consume 1 kilogram of grain for 10 days.
"The cost of raising birds that eat bugs is higher, and each kilogram of bugs on the morning market costs dozens of dollars, which is more expensive than pork." Volunteers said they had calculated that each bird had to eat an average of one dollar a day, and more than two hundred would cost more than 20,000 yuan for three months, not counting the water, electricity, and labor costs of the rescue station. It is normal for a small wild rescue station to invest 180,000 yuan in a winter to rescue wild birds.
The cost of escorting it south to the natural wild release is much smaller, the cost is about 14,000 yuan, and the birds can be freed as soon as possible.
The rental car only costs 3,000 yuan to quarantine before departure to ensure the health of "group members"
Seeing that the weather was getting colder and colder, Officer Song made up his mind to organize a bird delivery group and do it as he went. The bird delivery group consists of 5 people, all of whom are public welfare people who love birds, have a better understanding of the habits of birds, and can ensure the health of birds on the way, three of whom are from Jilin and two are from Heilongjiang.
Officer Song said: "The starting point of the bird sending group is in Heilongjiang, after research and decision, the best plan for this transportation is road transportation, we rented a caravan, the owner of the car rental company heard that it is a public welfare action, the fare is 50% off, and the round-trip trip is only 3,000 yuan." ”
I heard that migratory birds were going to form a group to go south, and Harbin's bird love public welfare circle was sensational. "Can we let the southern forest birds such as myna, wren, and thrush rescued and caged by individual breeders or other departments, and also take a ride together?" Some citizens inquired curiously.
The forestry and grassland department of Harbin City is also concerned about this action and expresses its willingness to provide relevant technical support and assistance.
On the afternoon of December 4, after completing the inventory of all migratory birds to be transported, health checks, and complete inspection and quarantine procedures, vehicles carrying 206 rescued migratory birds drove from Harbin to the south.
Officer Song told reporters: "This group went south, due to the rush of time, sampling quarantine was carried out in a professional institution in Songbei District, and citizens and other departments who hoped to hitchhike, because the birds missed the quarantine in advance, failed to hitchhike, the final determination of 206 birds are very healthy, the birds that can meet the release requirements in the temporary rescue station are basically brought." ”
At this time, the relevant departments in Dongting Lake in Hunan Have also made preparations for acceptance. It is understood that in order to ensure that the migratory birds transported can safely arrive at the southern wintering ground, the bird delivery group first sent a volunteer to Dongting Lake, the wintering place of migratory birds, to communicate with the local wildlife management department, especially on the details of epidemic prevention, and whether the birds are distributed in the local area or whether they belong to the migration destination. The staff of the wintering ground said: As long as the inspection and quarantine are passed, they agree to release these migratory birds stranded in the north to Dongting Lake.
Judging from the birds currently being rescued, a total of 10 species of forest birds are involved, basically adults, of which 8 species, such as blue-throated singing plover, red-throated singing plover, and yellow-throated bunting, can be released in Dongting Lake, but rose-browed suzaku and coal are not recommended to be sent over for the time being, because their distribution range is not in Hunan, and the latter usually does not migrate. This is a suggestion made by the ornithologists of the Hunan Normal University Academy of Biological Sciences.
Under the guidance of bird experts, migratory bird groups from Heilongjiang set off in groups of determined numbers and species.
Prepare "grain and grass" to escort all the way and release 206 migratory birds on the shore of Dongting Lake
Before leaving, the volunteers prepared enough grain, insects and vegetables to feed two hundred birds for two days. The 5 people in the car took turns driving.
Four beds were set up in the caravan, except for one occupied by the birdcage, the other beds were used by the volunteers of the bird group to rest. In order to reach Dongting Lake in Hunan as soon as possible, the caravan of the bird group traveled day and night, and the volunteers soaked instant noodles in the service area when they were hungry, and finally arrived at the destination on the afternoon of the 6th.
On December 7th, under the watchful eye of the bird delivery team, 206 migratory birds were released on the shore of Hanshou Dongting Lake, which also happened to be the opening day of the Dongting Lake International Bird Watching Festival.
"We summarized some experiences about the transportation of migratory birds, because the main thing released this time is forest birds, small in size, and they cannot be tracked and monitored after release, so we mainly collected data in the transportation process, one is to pay attention to the temperature in the car can not be too high, the temperature difference after getting off the car, the birds are easy to die; the second is to prevent birds from fighting, fighting, only ten or so in each cage to ensure their activity space; the third is to replenish food along the way; the fourth is to always pay attention to the state of migratory birds." Volunteer Wu Jianfeng said.
"The significance of the migratory bird group is to open up a new way to accumulate experience for future migratory bird rescue, determine the route of transportation, and make a substantial contribution to the rescue of birds in the true sense and the protection of the natural world." Officer Song said there are more than thirty similar aid stations in the province, all of which face the problem of insufficient exports.
Due to climatic reasons in the northeast region, wild birds in the rescue process, encounter winter can not be released, after half a year of breeding, the habits of wild birds change, the survival ability in the wild weakened, affecting the survival rate of the release. Winter group transportation and release can be carried out at any time, which solves the problem of storage and reduces the cost of feeding. With this successful experience, in the future, it can be directly docked with the southern provinces, take air transport, personnel do not have to be escorted, and the cost of release will be lower. Moreover, some southern resident birds are sold to the north through illegal trade, and these birds do not have the ability to move south, and they can also ride back to the south to release, ensuring the survival of this part of the birds.
Source: Wang Meng, reporter of Longtou News and Life Daily
Source: Life Newspaper