'Mysterious' mountains start to reveal their natural wonders

A vital pathway

The white-eared night heron has a wild population estimated at only 1,000 birds. However, in early October one was found at the Jinshan Yakou Xinping bird banding and monitoring station in the Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve.

One of the most elusive members of the heron family, it breeds in the south and central provinces of China and migrates to the China-Myanmar border and Southeast Asia in autumn.

"The first discovery of the bird in the Ailao Mountains was in 2006," said Zhao, who is also secretary-general of the Kunming Birdwatching Association.

"After many years of silence, since 2021 it has been found here for four consecutive years, indicating that its population has reached a certain size."

Over the past 20 years, Zhao, whose main research focus is nocturnal bird migration, has visited the Ailao Mountains multiple times from September to November. Each visit he spends more than a month working with the station staff and his colleagues on bird banding and research.

Zhao said that the Ailao Mountains are an important corridor for migratory birds. The birds gather in lower passes in the mountain range to fly through.

The Jinshan Yakou Xinping banding station and Jinshan Yakou Zhenyuan banding station, where Zhao works, are located on either side of a ridge at the border of Xinping county in Yuxi and Zhenyuan county in Pu'er, with an average altitude of 2,400 meters.

According to the station's records, more than 200 species of migratory birds appear in that area each year, including the yellow-breasted bunting.

"It is now listed as a critically endangered species globally and a national first-class protected wild animal," said Zhao, adding that it used to be a common bird, and is similar in appearance to a sparrow.

"We used to be able to catch dozens each year for banding research, but now we might not catch even one in a year."