Fuzhou, September 16 (China News Network) -- There are fewer than 100 Chinese crested terns left in the world, linking the "birdmen" on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and South Korea. Why have we been able to work together for more than 20 years? Yuan Xiaowei, a professor at National Taiwan University, replied in an interview with the China News Agency in Fuzhou on the 15th, "This bird does not belong to any region, does not belong to any kind of people, it is left by the ancestors, and therefore, we have more responsibility to protect it." ”
Li Zhenfeng, vice chairman of the Working Committee of Alxa See Fujian Project Center, has guided bird watching ugo into standardized operation in recent years. (Photo courtesy of Fujian Bird Watching Association)
63 years of "lost and regained"
On the same day, the 2018 Cross-Strait Chinese Crested Tern Conservation and Exchange Seminar was held in Fuzhou. Jointly sponsored by Fujian Wildlife Conservation Association, Alxa See Fujian Project Center, and Fujian Bird Watching Association. It attracted more than 100 people from bird conservation organizations on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and South Korea, including scholars and experts from public welfare foundations, and representatives of public welfare foundations.
Lin Shaolin, president of the Fujian Wildlife Conservation Association, delivered a speech. (Photo courtesy of Fujian Bird Watching Association)
Nicknamed the Chinese crested tern "Black-billed Tern", the Birdman has only had 6 exact observations of them since it was named in 1863 until 2000, and it is also known as the "Bird of Mythology" because of its unpredictable tracks.
In 2000, Taiwanese documentary filmmaker Liang Kede was in Matsu, "Of about 2,400 big crested terns, I found that 8 of the beak tips were black, and I couldn't believe it." "This caused a sensation in the entire ornithological community at the time.
Yang Jin, president of the Fujian Bird Watching Association, spent 21 months visiting more than 200 uninhabited islands in order to monitor bird diversity. He still remembers the first time in 2004 when the black-billed crested tern was observed at the mouth of the Minjiang River, the crowd was so excited that they lost their voice.
Yang Jin, President of Fujian Bird Watching Association, delivered a speech. (Photo courtesy of Fujian Bird Watching Association)
Make it a "beautiful home"
Yuan Xiaowei has been associated with Chen Shuihua, deputy director and researcher of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, for more than 20 years. After the appearance of the "black mouth", the connection between the two places became more and more frequent. In the migration route of "Black Mouth", most of them are in South Korea and China Zhejiang, Fujian, and Taiwan Penghu and Matsu Islands. "Every year from April to before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the 'black-billed end' comes home to breed, and its comfortable, beautiful and shiny home is prepared for them by the 'bird people' at these five points." Yuan Xiaowei said.
The "black-billed end" prefers to move in areas with shallow sea depths and near the shore, and does not like aquatic grasses to be too high. Yuan Xiaowei and his companions wielded scythes to remove the water weeds and bushes on the island that were higher than the heads of people, and installed fake birds to attract birds to stop and stop.
On the Leek Mountain Archipelago in Zhejiang, Chen Shuihua, deputy director and researcher of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, also had to fight off natural enemies for the "black-mouthed ends." (Photo courtesy of Fujian Bird Watching Association)
On the Islands of Leek Mountain in Zhejiang, Chen Shuihua also had to repel natural enemies for the "black-mouthed ends." They planted rat poison and removed the king snake, "We waited expectantly for a few eggs to hatch the young birds, but the adult birds abandoned their nests overnight because of the attack of the king snake." ”
South Korea, on the other hand, has designated an uninhabited island off the southwest coast as a protected area, allowing them a home of absolute tranquility that "even researchers cannot easily access."
This migration path has gained the trust of the "Black Mouth Duan", which has visited the Meihua Waterway at the mouth of the Minjiang River in Fujian For 13 consecutive years. But what is unpredictable is the arrival of typhoons and hurricanes. In the recent Typhoon Maria, Yuan Xiaowei watched the birds struggle in the storm but could not do anything, "the most heartache".
In 2008, the team of Professor Yuan Xiaowei of National Taiwan University launched the release of birds and monitored the migration route of the great crested tern. (Photo courtesy of Fujian Bird Watching Association)
"Horse Girl" appears
Fortunately, there are more and more high-tech surveillance methods invested. Jiang Gongguo, the "post-80s" birdman and acting deputy director general of the Taipei Wild Bird Society, used the drone into monitoring, "will not cause any interference, is conducive to the conservation of endangered species." ”
Yuan Xiaowei launched the release of birds in 2008 and also "landed" in Lishan, Zhejiang Province, to assist the mainland team in implementing the system release. Together, they discussed Bluetooth tracking technology and exchanged monitoring data information. "Which Bluetooth blister is not bad, to monitor all the data, our data is completely open." Chen Shuihua said.
The migration path of the great crested tern, which seems to be symbiotic with the "black-billed end", thus surfaces. Yuan Xiaowei research suggests that the Great Crested Tern in matsu either flew south along the mainland coast to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar for winter, or southeast along the mainland coast to the central Philippines for winter. "Judging from the migration routes, these areas are all large groups."
Zhang Shouhua, chairman of the Matsu Wild Bird Society, promoted the establishment of the Matsu Islands Tern Sanctuary to combine the gull viewing route with the local tourism industry. The "black-billed end" with one foot for "a74" was nicknamed "Ma Niu" and became the star endorsement of Matsu Sightseeing.
Zhang Shouhua said that every year, only one boat is dispatched to open the reserve to watch the gulls, and 60 seats are killed in an instant. "Ma Ni came back in 2017 and Ma Ni came back in 2018. Many people have their hearts tied to her year after year. (End)