Migratory (迁徙的) birds flying to China's largest freshwater lake for winter are likely to face a tougher environment than before. Little rainfall, a record drought, and the earliest dry season in the Poyang Lake area — all exacerbated by climate change — have threatened the food supply and habitat of wintering birds, domestic media reported Monday.
Known as a "migratory bird haven," Poyang Lake and its surrounding wetlands and ponds serve as one of the most important wintering stopovers for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, including Siberian cranes and oriental white storks. The lake's seasonal shrinkage provides abundant food to the waterbirds and helps maintain their habitat.
Duan Qingxian, director of the nonprofit Poyang Lake Wildlife Rescue Association, said on Tuesday that migratory birds inhabiting the lake area, as monitored by his team, had declined by at least 50% compared with the same period over the past years. "There is less food such as grassroots, snails, and shells for waterfowl (水禽) due to the drought," said Duan, who has lived in Duchang on the north side of the lake for over 40 years. "While patrolling the lakeside this year, I saw several dozen geese at a time flying from north to south, instead of hundreds previously."
In September, local authorities started drawing water from Poyang Lake's main channel to replenish nearby sub-lakes. They also cut grasses that were too old and hard for the birds to eat to make the grass sprout (抽芽). Duan said that human efforts to minimize the effects of changing weather patterns were just "a drop in the bucket" for a massive lake like Poyang. "We just do what we can do to reduce the impact of the drought on migratory birds as much as possible," Duan said. "As long as the weather cools, and it rains, the tender grass will grow, and more birds will come."
