Common Birds in China? (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Hello everyone, with Birding experience or knowledge of everyday life in China!

I´m trying to compile a short list of the most Common birds in Eastern Urban China, a list of the most conspicuous or striking birds that the "average Chinese" (that’s is; true amateurs, non-ornithologist, people without any birding experience or previous knowledge) will meet, in their everyday life, on their way to school, work or in Gardens and Parks.
A short list of Birds (about 20) just about impossible to miss in the most populated areas, in Beijing, Shanghai and/or Hong-Kong. Unmistakable all year round or in its typical season.

Any suggestions?

Every help is warmly welcomed.

And no limits; the more nomination lists, the more participants, the better!

 

[rockfowl]

Bjorn,

Beijing wise and surroundings (Urban).

Tree Sparrow
Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon
Azure-winged Magpie
Eurasian Magpie
Large-billed Crow
Spotted Dove
Cinereous Tit (Eastern Great Tit)
Common Swift (pekinensis)
Barn Swallow
White-cheeked Starling

Great-spotted Woodpecker
Grey-headed Woodpecker - Both Species Beijing parks and surrounds

If visiting parks with Water/ Summer Palace etc add Moorhen, Black-crowned Night Heron, Ducks etc

Off the top of my head, these are the obvious ones. The Beijing list is however impressive! Terry, I'm sure will add a few I've overlooked - http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?region=CNbj&list=howardmoore (Needs updating Terry!)

 

[MKinHK]

Hong Kong

Black Kite
Magpie Robin
Crested Bulbul
Chinese Bulbul
Tree Sparrow
Spotted Dove
Feral Pigeon
Crested Mynah
Black-collared Starling
Little Egret
Great Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Masked Laughingthrush
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (HK Park)
Asian Koel
Barn Swallow
House Swift
Cinerous Tit
Common Tailorbird
Japanese White-eye

Cheers
Mike

 

[Gretchen]

It's a bit hard to say, because in chatting with Chinese friends, I would be impressed if the average person could name more than 5 birds (not including chicken and duck at the restaurant!). That is in part because most people haven't been encouraged to look at birds, and in part because they are a lot harder to see here.

Here's some of what comes to mind as things easily seen/possibly identified in north China (somewhat in order of likelihood in my opinion) :
Common Magpie (the lucky bird!)
Tree Sparrow
Barn Swallow
Large-billed Crow (the bad luck bird)
Azure-winged Magpie
Spot-billed Duck (and/or Mallard)
Little Grebe
Ring-necked Pheasant
Common Kingfisher
Great Egret
Chinese Hwamei (in cages)
(also Common Myna in cages)

Oriental Stork
Spotted Dove
Great Tit
Bohemian Waxwing
Chinese (Light-vented) Bulbul
White Wagtail

Birds they might not see, but are somewhat familiar with as types of birds:
Mandarin Duck (symbolized long-lasting marriage)
Red-crowned Crane (symbolized long-lasting marriage)
(Short-eared?) Owl
(Great Spotted?) Woodpecker
(Eastern) Buzzard
and of course, the non-native
Indian Peafowl (found many places)

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Thanks Mark, Mike & "Gretchen"!

Anyone else feel like giving it a try?

Or have any objections or alternate suggestions?

Like I wrote; the more lists the better!

 

[Dong Bei]

In Dalian:

Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Common Magpie
Mallard
Spot-billed Duck
Chinese (Light-vented) Bulbul
Grey Heron
Ring-necked Pheasant
Barn Swallow
Eastern Great Tit

 

[jonathmartinez]

Guangdong view :

only one species : Hwamei inside cage in the park...
For the others, they've allready killed them all....

More seriously :
-Tree Sparrow
- Light-vented Bulbul
- Red-wiskered Bulbul
- Chinese Blackbird
- Cinereous / Japanes Tit
- Asian Koel
- Spotted Dove
- Japanese White Eye
- Common Tailorbird
- Oriental Magpie Robin
- Crested Myna
- Long-tailed Shrike
- Little Egret
- Chinese Pond Heron
- Barn Swallow
- Plaintive Cuckoo
- Black-collared Starling
- Masked Laughingthrush
- Feral Pigeon
- House Swift

 

[Owen Krout]

I 100% agree with Gretchen in that it is rare to find any Chinese that could actually put a name on more than five birds. Her list is a pretty good one for my area too with just a few changes. People are culturally trained to not pay any notice to anything about nature. "Environment" to almost anyone would be in reference to their immediate living conditions.

Azure-winged Magpie - (Blue Magpies to most people in Panjin and hard not to notice and people there are convinced that "Only Panjin has this bird."
Common Magpie - Once again, loud, large and boisterous.
Rock Dove - both domestic and feral
Tree Sparrow - everywhere, but even they are by US standards in low numbers
Goose - any large swimming bird is a goose (usually only domestic are seen)
Duck (Mandarin or Mallard may be semi-feral or domestic - any small swimming bird is a duck (outside of or on the fringes of populated areas)
Gull (Black-headed or Herring very common here) - any large white bird flying over water is a gull
Hoopoe - rather shy, but big and odd enough to be noticed

There are several others that are fairly common, but which go almost entirely unnoticed such as:
Great Tit
Chinese Bulbul
Dusky Thrush
Common Kestral
Buzzard
Bohemian Waxwing
Great Spotted Woodpecker

 

[rockfowl]

It's a bit hard to say, because in chatting with Chinese friends, I would be impressed if the average person could name more than 5 birds (not including chicken and duck at the restaurant!). That is in part because most people haven't been encouraged to look at birds, and in part because they are a lot harder to see here.

Interesting and true sadly on the whole.

However I will add that in Beidaihe, we have done a lot of publicity and education over the years which has gained much interest. many locals now could identify, obviously known by their Chinese names, birds such as Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and Siberian Blue Robin as we have used these in material. During the main passage of Cranes, I think also that Common, Red-crowned and Siberian Crane are surprisingly correctly identified by interested parties just by eye as they pass overhead. Of course it helps that they are very vocal, large and often low plus rooted culturally. I think oriental Stork similarly.

In areas where bird trapping occurs, as in concentrated, I assume target species species are also known by their Chinese names?

 

[Gretchen]

Oh yes, anyone interested in either bird tourism (which could include hotel workers) or bird collecting will obviously know lots more bird names (and be able to identify them) than the typical person.

I will admit, I threw the number out randomly, and when I started thinking about it, distinctive birds like "peacock" or "crane" may be known even by those who haven't personally seen them. I think they know a number of bird types like crane, gull, owl, and eagle, but might not be aware that there are a number of species of each.

I may do a little survey with my students... it is an interesting question. Maybe someone has seen this type of research in China?

 

[dantheman]

You could do this eg for the UK and could also say that many people couldn't name more than 5 species that they might pass by (and probably wouldn't even notice anyway).

I guess a list of the twenty in the UK (or any other country) would/should hold similar components in similar ratios, and partly based on birds posted already -

The obvious 'street birds' (Crows/Pigeons)
The odd raptor that frequent dumps etc (Kites?)
A gull or two likewise in the above two categories
Passerines/small birds that are familiar/confiding (maybe 8+ - including street birds like wagtail/starling, bush/tree birds (bulbul/tits), house nesters and aerial hirundines/swifts)
A handful of obvious waterbirds to be found on ponds in parks - heron/duck/swan
Possibly a handful of the more confiding/larger/exotic park birds (even if 'rarer' such as Hoopoe/Woodpecker as mentioned)
Possibly a handful of rarer but iconic species as mentioned such as Cranes/Pheasants (even if they don't really fit the criteria but if they can be 'visited' as 'celebrity' birds/semi-tame perhaps?).

Sorry, never been to China ...

Guess this has been done for elsewhere, but wonder if anyone has pulled all the different areas together?

 

[Cypselurus92]

Having parents (although my parents know a decent deal more than they used to) and relatives who honestly don't notice all that many birds, I'll list the following for Shanghai:

Eurasian Tree Sparrow (anything smallish, grey/brown is a sparrow).
Spotted Dove ('wild pigeon')
Hwamei (typically captive, some feral populations)
Chinese Bulbul
Little Egret (generically as 'Bai Lu', or 'crane')
Crows and Magpies (uncommon but culturally important)
Cranes (likewise)
Swallows (seen as harbingers or spring; some family members didn't recognise them at first though..)

There are plenty of common species that aren't noticed or are simply ignored (my parents or relatives have seen them, but didn't know what they were)

White Wagtail
Eurasian Blackbird
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (I'm assuming; its common in many areas)
Black-crowned Night Heron (well-accustomed to disturbed areas)
Azure-winged Magpie (introduced)
Long-tailed Shrike
Great Tit (actually not that common, but has distinctive call)

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Thanks everybody!

Your replies have been of great help.

I will try to conclude a little list, of twenty, in a couple of weeks.

Hopefully it will end up as a little folder or booklet raising awareness of birds (among non-birders) in China.

Anyone else have any additions or remarks?

Björn

 

[Gretchen]

Survey results

I may do a little survey with my students... it is an interesting question. Maybe someone has seen this type of research in China?

Well, I did a "little" survey - just got 11 responses, but its still interesting. These represent (college) students who were interested enough to volunteer to respond. Interestingly, they averaged naming 11 birds, though that includes a few who mentioned birds like penguin or ostrich (despite my asking for Chinese birds). They averaged having seen 7 of the birds they named (though there were two who had over 15, and one who had only 2).

The most common bird? Far and away the swallow! This was followed by magpie (common, I assume) and sparrow. Other birds that were mentioned by 5 or more people were: crow, cuckoo, parrot (well, I didn't specify wild birds!), pigeon, woodpecker, owl, starling, gull, and goose.

Other birds with 2-4 mentions (most to least): oriole, red crowned crane, quail, peacock, lark, thrush, and Mandarin duck (also, ostrich and hummingbird!). As I suspected the Red-crowned crane and Mandarin Duck were the only birds to be mentioned by species. The students wrote in Chinese, so these are Google translations.

 

[Gretchen]

I drew up a list for my students of common birds I had seen in north China - as birds that would be somewhat sight-able, but also give a sense of the variety that exists. I also incorporated some ideas from their lists (e.g. I hadn't thought of orioles, but they are bright and distinctive). Sorry, definitely more than 20!

Common Magpie
Azure-winged Magpie
Tree Sparrow
Barn Swallow
Fork-tailed Swift
Large-billed Crow
Ring-necked Pheasant
Black-naped oriole
Pallas's leaf warbler
Spotted Dove
Great Tit
Bohemian Waxwing
Chinese (Light-vented) Bulbul
White Wagtail
White-cheeked Starling
Brown Shrike
Hoopoe
Dusky Thrush
Common Kingfisher
Great Egret
Oriental Stork
Chinese Pond Heron
Moorhen
Mandarin Duck
Mallard Duck
Little Grebe
Red-crowned Crane
Little Owl
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Grey-headed Woodpecker
Kestrel
(Eastern) Buzzard
Vega Gull

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

I think they know a number of bird types like crane, gull, owl, and eagle, but might not be aware that there are a number of species of each.

I think that's true here in the States, too. Gulls are all "seagulls", any duck is a mallard, etc. Cardinals and blue jays are recognizable, but only because they're bright and colorful.

Nice work on the survey, though, Gretchen. You definitely came up with more species than I would have thought were known to most Chinese, at least based on my conversations with local co-workers.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

End note ...

Dear all,
Long overdue I have to inform you that my promised short list of Common Birds in China have been cancelled. I´ve now realized that I neither have the time nor the full knowledge to compile such list, not in a fully truthful, relevant and accurate way.

In any case, I´m very grateful for your help, in this my failed attempt.

THANKS!

Björn

PS. Please feel free to do one yourself. And then circulate it! Every contribution to increase awareness on birds in China (for a large public) is surely needed.