Over 80 World’s “Critically Endangered” Birds Appear at Mengjin Wetland

Over 80 World’s “Critically Endangered” Birds Appear at Mengjin Wetland

80余只世界“极危”鸟类现身孟津湿地

 

Mr. Ma, a senior engineer at the Management Center of Mengjin Section, unexpectedly spotted more than 80 yellow-breasted buntings at the Yellow River Wetland National Reserve recently. Nicknamed “ricebird”, the yellow-breasted bunting is a wild bird under State protection. Due to its rareness, it was ranked as one of the “critically endangered” species by International Union for Conservation of Nature on December 5, 2017.

日前，黄河湿地孟津管理中心高级工程师马朝红，在黄河湿地意外发现80余只黄胸鹀（wú）。黄胸鹀俗称“禾花雀”是国家珍稀野生鸟类，目前世界上存活量很少，2017年12月5日被世界自然保护联盟正式列入“极危”物种。

Over 80 world’s “critically endangered” birds appear at Mengjin wetland. [Photo provided to Dahe Daily]

It was introduced that the yellow-breasted bunting, like the sparrow, had a large population of about hundreds of thousands in the 1990s. Suffering severe declining year by year due to hunting and stressed ecosystem, the yellow-breasted bunting species has moved from “least concern” to “near threatened” in 2004, “endangered” in 2013, and “critically endangered” on December 5, 2017.

据介绍，20世纪90年代，黄胸鹀和麻雀一样种群规模较大，世界范围内有数十万只。随着人们的捕杀和生态环境的改变，黄胸鹀的数量逐年减少。2004年，黄胸鹀由“无危”改为“近危”，2013年改为“濒危”，直到2017年12月5日又升级为“极危”物种。

 

“More than a decade ago, the yellow-breasted bunting was a common species of a fairly large population.” Mr. Ma told the reporter that the yellow-breasted bunting always attracts lots of hunters due to its beautiful appearance. In some areas of South China, it is considered as a great delicacy because of the misinformation of its nutrition. As a result, the yellow-breasted bunting was killed enormously in the past decade. The sharp decline in number made it a “critically endangered” species.

“十多年前黄胸鹀还是很普通的鸟种，数量非常庞大。”马朝红告诉记者，黄胸鹀外形美观很吸引人的注意，因此在野外容易遭到猎捕。而在南方一些地区，由于错误的宣传让很多人认为黄胸鹀有滋补强壮的药理功效，从而使黄胸鹀成为一道桌上美味，导致黄胸鹀十几年间被大量猎杀，数量锐减，成为“极危”鸟种。

 

Widely distributed in Finland, Russia, China, Mongolia, North Korea, Japan, etc., the yellow-breasted bunting is a small songbird of the bunting family. It prefers to inhabit thickets and grasslands near streams, lakes and marshes, and breed in Northeast China and Siberia of Russia.

据悉，黄胸鹀别名禾花雀，鹀科鹀属小型鸣禽。它分布于芬兰、俄罗斯、中国、蒙古、朝鲜、日本等地。黄胸鹀喜欢栖息于溪流、湖泊和沼泽附近的灌丛、草地，在我国东北地区和俄罗斯西伯利亚地区进行繁殖。

 

Every year, the yellow-breasted bunting moves to the southeast coast of China, South Asia and Southeast Asia to spend the winter. During the spring and autumn migrations, it is often seen at the Mengjin Section of Henan Yellow River Wetland National Nature Reserve. “The yellow-breasted bunting should be well protected due to its rareness,” Mr. Ma reminded visitors that, “If you see the yellow-breasted bunting in the fields or hear of its appearance, please try to protect its living environment without disturbing them.”

每年冬季黄胸鹀会迁往中国东南沿海、南亚和东南亚地区过冬，春秋两季的迁徙期都会有黄胸鹀现身位于孟津的河南黄河湿地国家级自然保护区。马朝红说，如今黄胸鹀数量依然非常稀少，还应该以保护为主，希望大家不要对鸟群有过多的打扰，“即使大家在野外看到，或者听到哪里有黄胸鹀现身的消息，也不要贸然前往，尽量保护黄胸鹀的良好生存环境。” （中文来源/大河报 翻译/赵汉青 审校/丁岚）