Tracking devices solve mystery of the 鈥楲ittle Swifts鈥
Print Edition
Chinese children all know the rhyme 鈥淟ittle Swifts,鈥 about the migratory birds arrival in Beijing, but parents have never been able to answer the common question of where the birds have come from. Until now.
New research suggests that Beijing swifts, born in the capital in the eaves of old imperial palaces, travel more than 13,000 kilometers without touching ground to winter in southern Africa before returning the following spring.
A group of Chinese, British, Swedish and Belgian ornithologists and bird lovers fitted tracking devices to dozens of the birds in May last year. So loyal are swifts to their nesting sites that the researchers were able to retrieve 13 of the devices yesterday.
Their data showed that the birds headed northwest into Mongolia, then south through Iran and central Arabia into tropical Africa, before spending three months of the winter in Namibia and the Western Cape.
Swifts are among the fastest animals on the planet 鈥 capable of flying at speeds of more than 110 kilometers per hour. They spend almost all their lives in the air and can feed, drink, mate and sleep on the wing, landing only to breed. As such, they are very difficult to study, confounding ornithologists speculating about their flight paths.
The typical life span of a swift is seven years, 鈥渨hich means the bird in its lifetime will cover a migration distance greater than 182,000 kilometers, about half of the distance from the Earth to the Moon,鈥 said Terry Townshend, founder of the Birding Beijing NGO.
鈥淪wifts have a special place in the hearts of Beijingers,鈥 said Fu Jianping, president of the China Birdwatching Society. 鈥淭heir screaming flights at dusk around many of our major landmarks are one of the most enchanting features of our summer.鈥
The birds like to nest high above the ground. While many modern skyscrapers are deliberately designed not to accommodate birds, the flat surfaces of Beijing鈥檚 gatehouses and the eaves of imperial pavilions are perfect for swifts. They can usually be found in the Forbidden City, the Lama Temple and the Summer Palace from mid-April to July.
While swifts have been visitors to Beijing for hundreds of years, their numbers in the city have declined dramatically in the past few decades. A 2000-2002 study by Zhang Zhengwang, professor of zoology at Beijing Normal University, found only 3,000 swifts in the capital.
鈥淭he main reason behind the decline is that their breeding sites have been greatly reduced,鈥 Zhang said, noting that many gatehouses were torn down to make way for skyscrapers and wider roads. People have also strung nets on many old buildings to limit corrosion from bird droppings.
Conservationists are hopeful that understanding more about the birds鈥 habits will help in their protection. 鈥淚t will allow scientists to monitor these areas and identify actual and potential threats to the birds鈥 population,鈥 said Townshend.
鈥淚n Beijing, we can begin to have conversations with developers to explore whether we can make new buildings more swift-friendly by including swift nesting places in the design.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
