A reed parrotbill or Paradoxornis heudei, an endangered species that lives in reed marshes, was spotted in the Wujindang wetland park in Xinghua city, administered by Taizhou in East China's Jiangsu province, on July 29.
The bird was encountered and photographed by Shi Junxiang, a devoted bird enthusiast in Xinghua. Speaking of the encounter, Shi believed although it was a surprise, it was also inevitable.
"The earliest reed parrotbill photo taken by bird enthusiasts in the Wujindang wetland park dated back to May in 2016. At present, reed parrotbills have settled down and bred there," Shi said.
Reed parrotbills have a small body size and mainly feed on insects in the reed marshes.
It's regarded as being a rare bird species unique to China, mainly distributed in the eastern part of the country. Due to its rarity, it is known as the "giant panda among birds," said Sun Haitao, a member of staff at the Taizhou Environmental Monitoring Center.
Sun added that the species has relatively high requirements for water quality and the environment, so the encounter indicates that the ecological system and environment governance and protection work in Taizhou has achieved good results in recent years.
A charming reed parrotbill photo taken by bird enthusiast Shi Junxiang. [Photo/tznews.cn]