Lesser Sand Plover at Mai Po in April
BIRDING IN HONG KONG
Hong Kong is a great place for birds. Although there are no endemics - the land area is too small, the connection to the Chinese mainland too close - its position in south China on a main migration route for birds moving between East Asia and South-east Asia, particularly for shorebirds using the East Asian-Australasian flyway, makes it an exciting place for the bird watchers and bird photographers who live here - and for birders from overseas who visit or pass through on their own personal migrations.
The total land area is just over 1100 square kilometres - smaller than Greater London in the UK - but there are currently 572 species on the Hong Kong list, which is an impressive number for such a small, densely populated territory.
As mentioned above, the main reason for this is Hong Kong's geographical position on main migration routes. But there are other factors in play. Of primary importance is the variety of habitats within the territory. Visitors are often surprised by how "green" Hong Kong is, the popular image being one of skyscrapers and dense urban conurbations. But beyond the steel and concrete of the city, Kowloon and the new towns in the New Territories, there are areas of mud flats, ponds, marshes, agriculture, hillside scrub and forest that make this an area of rich biodiversity.
The jewel in the crown is Mai Po Nature Reserve situated on the border with the mainland in the northwest New Territories. This Ramsar site is an important wintering area for such rare species as Black-faced Spoonbill, Saunders's Gull and Eastern Imperial Eagle, as well as one of the best sites in Asia for passage waders in spring when Asian Dowitchers and Nordmann's Greenshank - and the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper - may be seen on the Deep Bay mudflats.
Then there is Tai Po Kau Forest Reserve. This woodland has evolved since 1945. (All the forest in Hong Kong was cut down during the Second World War.) As the forest has matured, it has become one of the best areas of lowland woodland in southern China and a number of species previously unrecorded in Hong Kong have moved in from the mainland. Perhaps the most notable recent additon is Chinese Barbet, which was first recorded on New Year's Eve 2014. Other forest species that are now an established part of the Hong Kong avifauna, but were unknown when I first arrived here in the 1990s, are Pygmy Wren Babbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Lesser Shortwing and Mountain Bulbul.
There are a number of other productive sites: notably Long Valley which can be particularly good during autumn migration for buntings, pipits and wagtails as well as water birds, and Po Toi Island south of Hong Kong Island which is a migration hot spot, especially in spring, and has an impressive list of rarities to its credit.
Good birds can also be found in the urban areas where any green area is well worth exploring, especially during migration periods. Kowloon Park and Hong Kong Park are both in the heart of the city and have interesting birds, although the former is perhaps no longer as productive as it used to be. Better for migrants these days is the Ma Tau Wai Reservoir area at Ho Man Tin, especially in September.
BIRD LIST
A full, updated list of Hong Kong birds can be found by clicking the link below:
HK Bird List May 2022 .
[email protected]
Hong Kong is a great place for birds. Although there are no endemics - the land area is too small, the connection to the Chinese mainland too close - its position in south China on a main migration route for birds moving between East Asia and South-east Asia, particularly for shorebirds using the East Asian-Australasian flyway, makes it an exciting place for the bird watchers and bird photographers who live here - and for birders from overseas who visit or pass through on their own personal migrations.
The total land area is just over 1100 square kilometres - smaller than Greater London in the UK - but there are currently 572 species on the Hong Kong list, which is an impressive number for such a small, densely populated territory.
As mentioned above, the main reason for this is Hong Kong's geographical position on main migration routes. But there are other factors in play. Of primary importance is the variety of habitats within the territory. Visitors are often surprised by how "green" Hong Kong is, the popular image being one of skyscrapers and dense urban conurbations. But beyond the steel and concrete of the city, Kowloon and the new towns in the New Territories, there are areas of mud flats, ponds, marshes, agriculture, hillside scrub and forest that make this an area of rich biodiversity.
The jewel in the crown is Mai Po Nature Reserve situated on the border with the mainland in the northwest New Territories. This Ramsar site is an important wintering area for such rare species as Black-faced Spoonbill, Saunders's Gull and Eastern Imperial Eagle, as well as one of the best sites in Asia for passage waders in spring when Asian Dowitchers and Nordmann's Greenshank - and the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper - may be seen on the Deep Bay mudflats.
Then there is Tai Po Kau Forest Reserve. This woodland has evolved since 1945. (All the forest in Hong Kong was cut down during the Second World War.) As the forest has matured, it has become one of the best areas of lowland woodland in southern China and a number of species previously unrecorded in Hong Kong have moved in from the mainland. Perhaps the most notable recent additon is Chinese Barbet, which was first recorded on New Year's Eve 2014. Other forest species that are now an established part of the Hong Kong avifauna, but were unknown when I first arrived here in the 1990s, are Pygmy Wren Babbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Lesser Shortwing and Mountain Bulbul.
There are a number of other productive sites: notably Long Valley which can be particularly good during autumn migration for buntings, pipits and wagtails as well as water birds, and Po Toi Island south of Hong Kong Island which is a migration hot spot, especially in spring, and has an impressive list of rarities to its credit.
Good birds can also be found in the urban areas where any green area is well worth exploring, especially during migration periods. Kowloon Park and Hong Kong Park are both in the heart of the city and have interesting birds, although the former is perhaps no longer as productive as it used to be. Better for migrants these days is the Ma Tau Wai Reservoir area at Ho Man Tin, especially in September.
BIRD LIST
A full, updated list of Hong Kong birds can be found by clicking the link below:
HK Bird List May 2022 .
[email protected]
