Chinese, Russian scientists compile first bird catalog

Scientists from China and Russia have finished compiling a bird catalog after a joint monitoring program conducted in a natural wetland reserve, the reserve authorities said Sunday. The catalog includes 288 species of birds that are recorded on the Chinese side of the Xingkai Lake Natural Reserve in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said Wu Fule, deputy chief of the reserve's administrative bureau. Chinese and Russian ornithologists carried out a joint bird monitoring in late September, according to Wu. Six new species, including black woodpeckers, sharp-tailed sandpipers, rock pigeons, ashy minivets and thick-billed warblers, were found in the reserve for the first time. The monitoring and the compiling of the catalog are of great significance in the protection of and research on birds in the region, Wu said. Established in 1997, the Xingkai Lake Natural Reserve crosses the Sino-Russian border and covers 330,000 hectares, with two-thirds in China.