Bird Spectacle Takes Place in Yingkou

Waves are surging on the sea. Clouds are floating in the sky. Between them are billows made up of millions of birds that are composing a more striking picture.

Migratory birds forage for food and rest at a shoal Photo: Zhang Xuyong

This spectacle is ongoing at coastal wetlands in Yingkou, Liaoning Province and is expected to last through early May.

A flock of birds fly in the sky Photo: Zhang Xuyong

Situated on the northern shore of Bohai Bay, Yingkou is a critical stop on the East Asia-West Pacific flyway. Intensified ecological protection in recent years has resulted in continuous environmental improvement in the Daliaohe River basin and helped conserve the rich stocks of fish, shrimp, crab, shellfish and other species of shoreline and shallow water animals in Yingkou, providing sufficient food for an expanding flock of migratory birds. Each spring, millions of Far Eastern curlews, black-tailed godwits, bar-tailed godwits and other species of migratory birds will stop over in the city for rest and food.

A flock of birds fly in the sky Photo: Wei Jiapeng

Birds take off from the sea Photo: Cui Xi

The birds usually take off from New Zealand and Australia in early April each year and fly over 6,000 km nonstop across the Pacific before landing in Yingkou.  Each day, as tides rise and fall, millions of exciting birds will skim over waves to forage for food, a spectacle that has made Yingkou one of only a few Chinese cities famous for birdwatching. Today, bird, together with wetlands and flowers, has become a new name card of the tourism sector in Yingkou.

Now, let’s appreciate this natural spectacle!

A billow of birds is seen in the sky Photo: Zhang Xuyong

A flock of birds fly above the sea Photo: Jiang Shan