Shanghai scans the sky for its first official bird
Print Edition
WHAT is your favorite local bird? Shanghai officials want to know.
The city’s greenery authorities are in the process of selecting a municipal bird and are keen to get some input from residents who have their eyes on the sky, officials said yesterday.
The city is launching an aviation education program next month, introducing a different bird to the public every week over 50 weeks.
The move follows a proposal made earlier this year by two municipal political advisers who suggested making a rare parrotbill native to Shanghai the city’s official bird.
The recommended criteria for selecting an official bird has four components, said Tu Rongxiu, deputy director of the Shanghai Wildlife Protection Management Station.
“The bird is native to the country and rare; it should have close links with the region’s history and culture and have symbolic meaning; it is beautiful and is favored by local residents; and it plays an important role in maintaining the ecological balance and has value in scientific research,” she said.
The station will use various media to introduce the “bird of the week,” said Tu, adding that the selection process will help raise awareness of the importance of bird protection.
Shanghai has documented 404 avian species since 2000. They include eight listed as first-class national protected birds of China, such as the hooded crane and sea eagle, and about 50 second-class national protected birds.
Most of them are migrant birds found in intertidal zones along the coast, Tu said.
The final choice will be based on the views of the public, bird experts and municipal officials, said Tu.
Competing alongside the rare parrotbill is the light-vented bulbul, one of the four most commonly seen birds in the city.
The parrotbill, which lives on the coast, is not well known to residents, said Yao Li, secretary-general of the Wild Bird Society of Shanghai, so he is calling for the light-vented bulbul to be made the city’s avian mascot.
Nineteen provinces and autonomous regions in China already have official birds.
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