Taiwan media: After 2 years, the rare migratory bird spoonbilled sandpiper has appeared in Tainan

Chinanews.com, March 3 According to Taiwan's "Lianhe Pao", when the wildlife research laboratory of Taiwan University was implementing the coastal survey of the Marine Conservation Administration's "21 Seabird Population Survey Plan", in the salt flats near Tainan Qigu and Jiangjun, a long-awaited spoonbilled sandpiper with the foot flag number 2023 was found, which was observed by birdfriends in the Tainan General Wetland in the winter of 88 and 88.

In the salt flats near Qigu and General in Tainan, a long-awaited Foot-Banner No. 88 sandpiper was found, but due to the scarcity of the number and difficulty in knowing its whereabouts, Taiwan has not witnessed the spoonbilled sandpiper for at least two years. Image source: Courtesy of Zhang Hanbai, Wildlife Research Office, National Taiwan University

The number 88 sandpiper was released by researchers in Russia in June 2019 with a light green foot flag with the black number 6 on its left foot. In the winter of the same year, it went to Tainan for the winter. The Spoonbills migrate north and south on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean each year, breeding in northern East Asia in summer, flying south to the coast of Southeast or South Asia in winter, and occasionally wintering in Taiwan.

Due to the continuous exploitation of coastal habitats, human disturbance, climate change and other factors, the global population of spoonbills has decreased year by year. Therefore, it is listed as a critically endangered species by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and has attracted the attention of the global ecosystem.

In order to protect the precious salt flats ecology, six groups in Taiwan formed the "Seven Shares General Salt Flats Wetland Restoration Alliance" to adopt 6,1605 hectares of Seven Shares and General's salt flats. During the adoption period, regular patrolling, environmental maintenance and ecological monitoring will be carried out to maintain these precious natural resources, support ecosystem diversity, and provide sustainable biodiversity conservation.

Lin Daiying, director general of the Tainan Wild Bird Society, said that from 2017 to 2020, Tainan's salt flats had annual sightings of spoonbills, and the revisit of the same No. 88 sandpiper after many years shows that migratory birds are very loyal to their habitats and will continue to visit as long as the environment is not damaged, but if they lose these important habitats, it will make the situation of these endangered migratory birds more difficult.