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        Special Topics 特別主題 >> Black-faced Spoonbill 黑臉琵鷺 >>  Black-faced Spoonbill wintering in Hainan 
        
(Message started by: Project Officer on Mar 2^nd, 2003, 11:20pm)

Title: Black-faced Spoonbill wintering in Hainan
Post by Project Officer on Mar 2^nd, 2003, 11:20pm

A member of the Society provide us a news report on Black-faced Spoonbill in Hainan, sourced from Xinhuanet:

Check it out:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2003-02/28/content_750168.htm

Title: Re: Black-faced Spoonbill wintering in Hainan
Post by Simba Chan on Mar 3^rd, 2003, 10:16am

Dear friends,

The same message was posted on the OBC mailing list on 10 February and here is my reply on 13 February:

"Dear OBers,

Black-faced Spoonbills were present at Dongzhaigang in early 1990s (I saw 11 birds in February 1992), and reported from mid to late 1990s in the international Black-faced Spoonbill census coordinated by Tom Dahmer (coordination shifted to the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society from this year). It seemed their 'disappearance' in the last few years was only due
to lack of waterbird survey at the reserve.

In fact, if my memory is correct, the species of spoonbill occur in Hainan had not been positively identified until late 1980s or early 1990s.

Simba Chan
Wild Bird Society of Japan"

Now I have the books in my hands: BFS was listed as a bird in Hainan in 'Birds and Animals of Hainan' published in 1983. It was noted as 'a winter visitor' without any information. Obviously this was taken from a list of non-Chinese researchers who came to Hainan before 1949 (I suspect it was from Hachisuka's list published in the 1940s). The first paper suggested that the Hainan spoonbills were BFS was published in 1989 by Deng Juxue, followed by field confirmation by WWFHK teams in early 1990s.

BFSs have been reported every year in the 1990s. The statement of 'rediscovered after missing in Hainan for 20 years' has two mistakes:
1. It has not been positively identified until the late 1980s
2. It is always there.

Lingao is a new site for the species, though.

Simba Chan