Guangzhou: Trip to a Fantastic Bird-watching Destination

Guangzhou's Nansha Wetland Scenic Area is a national 4A-level tourist attraction in China. Located at the southernmost corner of Guangzhou, Nansha Wetland is a paradise of birds. As the largest coastal wetland in the Pearl River Delta, it is an important food supply station and rest station for migratory birds in Guangdong.

(Source: quanjing.com)

Whenever a predator flies by, the herons and sandpipers playing around the water surface panic and flee on their wings, presenting a spectacular picture. It is also the habitat of the Black-faced Spoonbill, a National First-class Protected Animal in China, and there are fewer than 4,000 of these waterbirds in the world. This species has the most restricted distribution of the six spoonbill species, and it is the only one regarded as endangered. Spoonbills are large water birds with dorso-ventrally flattened, spatulate bills. These birds use a tactile method of feeding, wading in the water and sweeping their beaks from side to side to detect prey. Confined to the coastal areas of eastern Asia, it seems that it was once common throughout its area of distribution.

(Source: quanjing.com)

Every winter, thousands of migratory birds stop here to rest and forage,  the number of which reaches 100,000 at the most. Currently, more than 200 species of birds are found in the wetland, with winter migratory birds accounting for 72% of the total, including the white-tailed sea eagle, a kind of national first-class protected birds. The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla ) is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Eurasia.

(Source: quanjing.com)

For the convenience of visitors, the Nansha Wetland has opened two bird-watching platforms on the edge of the foraging area. The bird-watching houses, which are both secluded and safe, have the best views. There, visitors can bring their own professional devices for bird watching and photography, such as binoculars and cameras, and enjoy watching and photographing birds through the small windows at a short distance without disturbing them.