High-Definition Photo Album: Thousands of Gray-Headed Gulls Visit Changning, Yunnan

Alien visitors appear in the idyllic mountain and rural city of Changning, Yunnan

Recently, a group of 'alien visitors' appeared in the mountain and rural city of Changning, Yunnan, breaking the silence of spring. They soared in the blue sky performing high-altitude flight skills, closely followed the lake surface practicing ultra-low altitude flight techniques, rested and foraged by stopping at the lakeside, and collectively emitted a series of bird calls…

Over a thousand gray-headed gulls visited Changning, Yunnan

Over a thousand gray-headed gulls visited Changning, Yunnan

Gray-headed gulls (scientific name: Vanellus cinereus) are medium-sized water birds belonging to the genus of gulls. Medium-sized shorebirds with gray heads, necks, and chests. They have a black band on their lower chest, white on their lower body, brown-gray back, white tail with black markings on the upper tail and white tail with black markings at the end of the tail. Their beaks are yellow with black tips, and their feet are slender and yellow. When flying, except for the black at the tips of the wings and the ends of the tail, the lower wings and from the chest to the tail are all white. The primary and secondary flight feathers on the wings are clearly black and white.

Over a thousand gray-headed gulls visited Changning, Yunnan

Gray-headed gulls have been listed in the 'List of Beneficial or Valuable Terrestrial Wild Animals for Important Ecological Conservation' issued by the State Forestry Administration on August 1, 2000, and in the 'IUCN Red List of Threatened Species' (LC) low-risk species. Due to their small population and number, they are rarely seen.