A small flock of rare birds Jankowski's Buntings have been spotted at Miyun Reservoir in Beijing. (Photo/Beijing News)
(ECNS) -- A small flock of Jankowski's Buntings (Emberiza Jankowskii) have been spotted at Miyun Reservoir in Beijing, about 70 years after the last recorded sighting, the Beijing News reported on Thursday.
Xing Chao, a student at Peking University and also a member of a Beijing birdwatching group, is reported to have found the endangered bird at the reservoir.
It is the first time evidence of the endangered species has been found in Beijing since 1941, when traces of the Emberiza Jankowskii were spotted at the Summer Palace.
Jankowski's Bunting is a species of bird in the Emberizidae family, and there are less than 1,000 left in the wild.
The discovery of Jankowski's Bunting has provided a unique opportunity to study the birds, of which little is known, the report said.
The bird normally lives in China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Russia, where its natural habitats are temperate shrublands and grasslands.
However, in the last four decades the species has rapidly declined in number, primarily because its habitat is increasingly being converted for use in agriculture, farming and forestry.
About 10 to 15 Jankowski's bunting are believed to be left at Miyun Reservoir, the report said.
