The first recorded chestnut-tailed crane in China was found at the Wangjiang Campus of Sichuan University

Great Red Stork

Do you know how many species of wild birds are now recorded in Sichuan? The answer is 757.

On March 27, Sichuan Animals, the core journal of Peking University, published "Revision and Update of the Bird List of Sichuan Province", which clarified the "home base" of birds in Sichuan. At present, there are 757 species of birds distributed in Sichuan, compared with 628 species recorded in the Sichuan Bird Identification Manual in 1997, adding 135 species.

On April 7, the reporter contacted the first author of the article "Revision and Renewal of the Bird List of Sichuan Province" and Dr. Que Pinjia of chengdu giant panda breeding research base, who told the story behind the revision of the bird list of Sichuan after 23 years.

Wild birds are recorded in Sichuan

757 species in 340 genera of 24 orders and 87 families

Que Pinjia said that the last most complete and one of the two most important treatises on the taxonomy and distribution of Birds in Sichuan, the list of birds in Sichuan, is the "Handbook of Bird Identification in Sichuan" published in 1997, 23 years ago.

According to the Revision and Update of the Bird List of Sichuan Province, as of March 2020, a total of 757 species of wild birds in 340 genera and 87 families in 24 orders and 87 families were recorded in Sichuan Province, accounting for 92%, 80%, 69% and 52% of the total number of orders, families, genera and species in China, respectively. Among them, passeriformes are the most numerous, accounting for 58% of the number of bird species in Sichuan Province, with a total of 439 species in 47 families and 169 genera. The most numerous species in non-passeriformes are Plovers, with 78 species, followed by Geese and Eagles, with 40 and 38 species, respectively.

Que Pinjia said that the data came from 408 papers or monographs collected, and 5899 bird watching records were reviewed. Published papers and monographs are the most important and reliable sources, bird watching reports from domestic and foreign bird watching enthusiasts, well-documented photographs, public or non-public channels of dissemination but verifiable information, including specimens collected by museums, are important reference contents.

Birds distributed in Sichuan

There are 46 species of birds endemic to China

According to records, among the birds with distribution records in Sichuan Province, a total of 115 species have been listed as wild animals under national key protection (16 species of national level I. and 99 species of national level II. species); 42 species of wild animals under key protection in Sichuan Province. Two species assessed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List are the blue-headed diving duck and the yellow-breasted bunting, with 14 species endangered and 30 vulnerable. Eight species of birds are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and 78 species are listed in Appendix II. Among the birds distributed in Sichuan, there are 46 species of chinese endemic birds, accounting for 49% of the total number of endemic birds in China.

Interestingly, since the completion of the Sichuan Bird Identification Manual, five new bird species have been described and published, namely the Emei Willow Warbler, the Emei Wren Warbler, the Pale-tailed Owl Warbler, the West China Willow Warbler, and the Sichuan Short-winged Locust Warbler. They all belong to the warbler family.

Que Pinjia explains that because these birds are all reclusive species, they are morphologically very similar to sister species, but there are obvious differentiations in other aspects, "For such reclusive species, even if the two birds are put together, they may not be able to distinguish each other." ”

So how to distinguish? For example, Que Pinjia said that birds also have a communication method similar to "chicken and duck talk", birds of different species may be similar in morphology, but the song is very different, so in the process of bird watching, sometimes due to the obstruction of branches, there is no personal sight and actual shooting of the bird's image data, but there is a song recording, which can also be used as evidence to "observe" the bird. In addition, advances in biotechnology have helped to distinguish between different species. Once, a bird friend who climbed the branches picked up a chick that had not yet grown up, and it was difficult to distinguish the species, but based on the DNA extracted from a hair on the chick's body, it was successfully identified.

It is worth mentioning that the brown-backed Berlau is a new record of Birds of China, which is mainly distributed in southeastern Turkmenistan, eastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, including a total of 2 subspecies, and the individual eyelids recorded at the mouth of the partridge mountain tunnel in Lixian County, Sichuan, have a chestnut red, smaller beak and all black. As a record of endemic birds in China, their occurrences do not seem to be all inaccessible places, such as the white-waisted sandpiper and the chestnut-tailed crane, which are the first recorded in China, but the places of discovery are recorded in Ruoergehua Lake in Sichuan Province and the Wangjiang Campus of Sichuan University.

107 most recent distributions are recorded

66 species are first discovered by bird watchers and photography enthusiasts

According to the "Revision and Update of the Bird List of Sichuan Province", the updated bird list of Sichuan Province records a total of 757 species of wild birds. Compared with 628 species in 1997, there has been a significant improvement, in addition to the new species named by the new description and the change from subspecies to species due to taxonomic revision, it must also be noted that the most important new distribution records are 107 species, and 66 species are first discovered by bird watchers or bird photography enthusiasts.

Sichuan's earliest known record of 94 species of newly distributed birds are from 15 prefecture-level administrative regions, the most recorded area is Aba Prefecture, a total of 19 species recorded, the state's Wolong - Jiuzhaigou - Ruoerge tourism loop is one of the most important tourist routes for many bird watching enthusiasts at home and abroad in Sichuan, with a large number of visitors and a high probability of observation and discovery. Secondly, 14 species were recorded in Chengdu and 13 in Deyang, and bird watching and bird photography activities have a good mass base in both places. In Panzhihua, 12 species have been recorded, which are closely related to its unique geographical location and natural environment. In addition, 6 species were recorded in Ya'an and Leshan, 5 in Liangshan Prefecture, 4 in Ganzi Prefecture, 3 in Mianyang, Nanchong and Yibin, 2 in Luzhou, and 1 in Neijiang, Dazhou, Guangyuan and Meishan.

Chengdu Business Daily - Red Star News reporter Yu Zunsu Chengdu Bird Watching Association courtesy of the picture