The Chinese crested tern "Ma Niu" came to the Minjiang River Estuary Wetland

Fuzhou News Network, August 19 (Fuzhou Evening News reporter Xu Wenyu) These days, the Chinese crested tern "Ma Niu" from the Matsu region of Taiwan has come to the Minjiang River Estuary Wetland, which is the world's first Chinese crested tern that has been surrounded by the Ring.

The Chinese crested tern (Thalasseus bernsteini), also known as the black-billed crested tern, is a national first-class protected animal and is listed as a critically endangered species by the IUCN, with a current global population of about 100. Since its name in 1863, until 2000, the Chinese crested tern was only observed 6 times, and at one point it was thought to be extinct, because of its unpredictable whereabouts, so it was called "mythical bird".

In 2000, Taiwanese documentary filmmaker Liang Jude found eight Chinese crested terns with black beaks in a flock of more than 2,000 large crested terns in Matsu, Taiwan, which immediately caused a sensation in the entire ornithological community. In 2004, two Chinese crested terns were also observed in the Minjiang Estuary Wetland in Fujian Province. So far, the Chinese crested tern has been visiting the Minjiang Estuary Wetland from April to September every year for 18 years.

The Minjiang Estuary Wetland and matsu's Chinese crested terns are the same population. The Matsu Tern Sanctuary lacks large tidal flats, and the Minjiang River Estuary Wetland lacks islands suitable for breeding nests, and the conditions of the two places are just complementary, so the Chinese crested terns will nest in the uninhabited island reef of Matsu, courtship, water play, and plumage in the Minjiang River Estuary wetland.

Born in June 2015 on Tiejian Island in Matsu, "Ma Nian" was released by The National Taiwan University's Yuan Hsiao-wei team and Taipei Bird Club Huan Zhi on July 18 of the same year, wearing a blue and white foot flag with the number "A74" on her feet. Huanzhi, which is the ID card and travel passport of birds, through which researchers track the condition of birds. "Ma Niu" is a female bird who returns to Matsu every summer, and she has become the bird star of Matsu.

"Ma Niu" returns to Matsu, the birthplace of Matsu every summer, and frequently travels between Matsu and the Minjiang estuary during the breeding period, and if you are lucky, you can see its shadow in the Minjiang Estuary Wetland.

Source: Fuzhou News Network