Birds in the spotlight at the Shanghai Nature Conservation Festival

During the 10th Shanghai International Nature Conservation Festival, Shanghai Gongqing Forest Park in Yangpu District launched a documentary “Into the Forest: The Bird Chapter”.

This is the second thematic documentary released after “Into the Forest: The Insect Chapter”, which reflects the side of Shanghai as a shared home for people and a multitude of wild flora and fauna.

The city has become an increasingly ideal habitat for wildlife to thrive and reproduce. By the end of 2023, a total of 527 bird species had been recorded in Shanghai.

With the continuous improvement of the ecological environment and the advancement of bird censuses in recent years, the number of bird species recorded in the city over the past decade has increased by 66.

Over the past decade, more than 100 species of birds have been recorded in the park. These birds are both familiar and unfamiliar to most people.

“They are familiar in the sense that we can always come across a few of them during visits; they are unknown in the sense that despite these encounters, few people have taken the time to observe them closely, and most do not manage to not to name them,” explained the park operator.

In the documentary, the lives of 30 common bird species in the park are documented, following the timeline of spring, summer, fall and winter.

The moorhen and long-tailed shrike are presented as representatives of aquatic and forest birds, highlighting their reproductive lives.

A separate chapter on rainy days highlights birds’ often invisible resilience and delight in the face of adversity, while the fall chapter introduces some of the park’s wintering migrants.

The park said the documentary was released in the hope that the public could better understand the important role birds play in the ecosystem and how changes in their diversity can reflect the health and stability of the ecosystem and , at the same time, to increase understanding and awareness of these lovely people of Shanghai.

The documentary is screened inside the park and on the park’s WeChat account.

During the festival, around 60 science popularization activities are organized in the city’s botanical gardens, zoos, forest parks and nature reserves until October 27.

These include lectures, exhibitions and outdoor tours, according to the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau.

On Friday, visitors will follow experts to conduct a biodiversity study of birds and pollinating insects in Jinhai wetland wildlife habitat, contributing to the park’s biodiversity data monitoring.

Wildlife enthusiasts can enter Gongqing Forest Park, Century Park, Houtan Wetland Park and Minhang Sports Park to observe wintering birds and learn about bird migration this weekend.