With sponsorship from Swire Trust, the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society continued the waterbird satellite tracking project in April 2022. We aim to understand more about migratory birds by collecting the migration data for further study, including their preferred sites along migration route, breeding and wintering grounds, and length of stay at stopovers.

Pied Avocet and Common Greenshank are common winter visitors in Hong Kong. However, due to the lack of study on the migratory route of these species, it is necessary to fill in the knowledge gap to formulate specific conservation strategies.

Therefore, our research team attached satellite tracking devices by Argos System to a Pied Avocet "Big5" and the three Common Greenshanks "Ching", "Uncle" and "Hing Hing" to observe their migration route in real-time. Before the attachment, our researchers evaluated the bird's physical and health condition in detail and ensured that the weight of the device is not more than 3% of the bird's weight. The installation process is supervised and executed by experienced researchers. Birds are captured and attached with satellite trackers in the most friendly and safe way to minimize the impact on them. The satellite tracking device is maintained by solar panels and will automatically fall off after a period of time.

We will keep updating their migration movement, please follow our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) and search #WaterbirdTracking hashtag.

Project sponsored by Swire Trust