Critically Endangered White-tailed Gull Finds New Home in Urengu Lake Wetlands
Tianshan Net News (reporter Zhao Mei reported) The world's critically endangered White-tailed Gull has found a new home in the wetlands of Urengu Lake, Xinjiang. Currently, the Xinjiang Bird Watching Association has jointly undertaken monitoring and investigation of the White-tailed Gull habitat with the Urengu Lake Wetland Park Administration.
Photos from Urengu Lake in summer 2019 showing a White-tailed Gull family.
According to Guo Jun, the project leader of the ‘Bird Flies’ project of the Xinjiang Bird Watching Association, White-tailed Gulls were first discovered in Urengu Lake as early as 2017. ‘At that time, the number of White-tailed Gulls discovered was not many, either a few or more than ten, and there was no record of young birds breeding.’ In the migration season of 2019, local volunteers discovered more than a hundred White-tailed Gulls ‘resting’ on the lake surface, and continued summer observation and investigation found nine pairs of White-tailed Gulls ‘couples’ remaining to breed locally. ‘The area of the lake surface was quite large, and the reeds were dense, so there may be White-tailed Gulls still in the process of breeding, but they have not yet been found.’ Guo Jun said.
Photos from Urengu Lake in summer 2019 showing a male White-tailed Gull.
Photos from Urengu Lake in summer 2019 showing a female White-tailed Gull.
According to Guo Jun, due to the White-tailed Gull belonging to Xinjiang breeding birds or migratory birds, researchers have discovered more than ten places with White-tailed Gull habitats in Xinjiang in recent years, but these habitats are mostly seen during migration season, and rarely find them breeding locally. ‘Besides the Whitebird Lake wetland in Urumqi and the Quiktin wetland with long-term records of young birds breeding, there are very few stable breeding records in other waters.’ he said.
A flock of Gray Geese photographed in Urengu Lake wetlands.
White-tailed Gull, which has been classified as critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund, with an estimated population of 7000 to 13100 globally, mainly distributed in Spain, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Mongolia, and China, with only breeding in Xinjiang, and the number is only dozens each year.
The ‘Bird Flies’ project, initiated by the Alashan SEE Foundation in March 2016, is a comprehensive ecological protection project to safeguard China's most endangered waterbirds and their habitats.
A flock of Great White Egrets photographed in Urengu Lake wetlands.
To further understand the population distribution of rare birds such as White-tailed Gulls and other rare bird species in Urengu Lake wetlands, the Xinjiang Bird Watching Association has jointly applied to the Alashan SEE Foundation’s ‘Bird Flies’ with the Urengu Lake Wetland Park Administration, and established the Xinjiang Bird Watching Association ‘Bird Flies’ project team in early 2023, simultaneously launching the ‘Urengu Lake Wetland Bird Monitoring and Protection’ project, which began long-term monitoring and investigation of White-tailed Gulls and other rare bird species. (Photos and videos provided by Wang Yong, the ‘Bird Flies’ project team of the Xinjiang Bird Watching Association.)
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