The worldwide population of black-faced spoonbills has surpassed 7,700 birds, with Taiwan recording 4,719 — an all-time high, the Tainan Wild Bird Society said yesterday.
The International Black-faced Spoonbill Census, released on Friday by the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society on the eve of this year’s “Black-faced Spoonbill Day,” showed a total of 7,746 birds recorded worldwide.
Taiwan’s 4,719 birds was an increase of 550 from last year, a historical high and representing 60.9 percent of the global black-faced spoonbill population, the census showed.
Photo courtesy of Wang Cheng-ji
Last year, 7,081 black-faced spoonbills were recorded worldwide, including 4,169 in Taiwan. As a result of conservation efforts, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has downgraded the species from “Endangered” to “Vulnerable.”
The increase not only represents renewed hope for the species’ recovery, but also highlights Taiwan’s crucial role as the most important wintering ground for black-faced spoonbills, the Tainan Wild Bird Society said.
Every increase in the population is the result of tireless cross-border cooperation, and dedicated efforts of conservationists and volunteers, it added.
Starting this year, the third Saturday of March has been designated “Black-faced Spoonbill Day,” the Tainan Bird Society said.
The day not only marks the beginning of the spoonbills’ northward migration, but also serves as an important moment to review conservation achievements and reflect on the challenges facing their habitats, it said.
The global census of black-faced spoonbills has been conducted since 1994 through a coordinated effort by conservation organizations across East Asia, with the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society overseeing and publishing the results.
This year’s census covered eleven countries and regions, including Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Macau, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia.
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