How many species of birds are there in China? You'll get different answers in different years, because there are always new discoveries in the Chinese bird family, and that's a growing number.
According to the records, from 1964 to 2000, the number of species of birds in China increased by 104 species. Since 2000, the number of birds in China has continued to increase. In 2018, the "List of Chinese Bird Classification and Distribution" (third edition) edited by Academician Zheng Guangmei included 1445 species of birds, and the "Handbook of Chinese Bird Observation" published in 2021 refreshed the number of birds with field records in China to 1491 species.
White-cheeked black goose, found in Henan. Photography / Hao Xianing
What does the new record for birds in China mean?
What does the new record for birds in China really mean? The most succinct answer is that they represent changes in the distribution of species.
Species distribution areas are very important ecological information for species. The distribution area of today's species is the result of the continuous change of its historical distribution. In the process of self-regulation and evolution of the Earth, the geological and geographical conditions, as well as the environmental factors they produce, change on larger time scales. Biological distribution areas repeatedly undergo atrophision-expansion dynamic changes on different spatio-temporal scales, and contemporary biological distribution areas are a dynamic equilibrium product formed after changes. Because of this, we can analyze the pattern of distribution to speculate about the history of animal evolution and the relationship between them.
The occurrence or absence of some bird species in some places, the number of situations, is affected by geographical factors such as mountains and rivers, and environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and vegetation, which is the result of species evolution.
The vast majority of new records in recent years are first-hand records of birdwatchers in the wild. The more birdwatchers, the wider the coverage in China, the higher the level of bird observation, and the stronger our ability to obtain high-quality data. This ability to monitor the fauna of nearly 1,500 bird species in China in real time is unmatched by any bird species map. The accumulation and analysis of this data can truly reflect the trend of immediate, long-term and convincing bird population dynamics and even environmental changes. It is also a valuable asset that birdwatchers can contribute to human cognition of nature under conditions of rapid global change.
Is there a regularity in the new record of Birds in China?
There are three main reasons for the increase in the number of bird species in China: one is that some new bird species are described in China, the second is that with the deepening of faunal survey work and the popularization of Chinese bird watching activities, some new distribution records of Chinese birds have been discovered, and third, with the development of systematic classification methods, some species that were previously listed as subspecies through morphological classification work have been promoted to independent species through comprehensive evidence analysis such as song, molecular behavior and evolutionary history.
According to the time and location of the newly recorded bird species that have appeared in recent years, the reasons for the new distribution of these bird species in China are divided into three categories: First, the original distribution area is far from China, and the new record appears in the non-breeding season, which may be due to uncertain reasons such as climate and other uncertain reasons to drift to China, such as geese, plovers, gulls, these bird species often have strong migration and diffusion capabilities; second, the original distribution area is close to China, and it has been determined or is likely to breed in China, winter migration transit, mainly passes through the passes Third, the distribution in China is temporarily unknown, and one of the above two possibilities is needed, such as the pincer-billed stork, the rainbow bee tiger, the blue-waisted short-tailed parrot, and the Hugh's diphtheria forest warbler.
Where else can new record bird species be found?
According to the collation, the new records of Chinese birds are mainly distributed in three hot spots, namely the western border provinces and regions (Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan and Guangxi), the three coastal provinces and cities (Hebei, Tianjin, Fujian), and Taiwan. Among them, the known distribution areas of newly recorded species that appear in the west are close to China, and some species are most likely to breed, overwinter or transit in China; while the original distribution areas of newly recorded species that appear along the coast and in Taiwan are far away from China, and most of them are occasional birds in China. In the future, these areas will continue to be hot spots for generating new records for Chinese bird species. (Author Liu Yang Editor Wang Qiang)
