North China's wetland Baiyangdian sees increase in wild bird species

(ECNS) -- Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, has seen a significant increase in wild bird species, the local natural resources bureau announced on Monday.

Located in the Xiong'an New Area of Hebei Province, Baiuangdian now boasts a total of 292 wild birds species, an increase of 86 since the establishment of the Xiong'an New Area.

Five new wild bird species were discovered in a recent biodiversity investigation, including horned grebe, Chinese koel, Siberian blue robin, grey-backed thrush, and Rufous-tailed robin.

Among them, the horned grebe is a new bird species detected through an intelligent habitat-monitoring system. Known as a national second-class protected species, it was included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 2018.

As of now, Baiyangdian is home to 13 wild bird species under China's first-class national protection, 52 under second-class national protection, and 227 species in other protection categories.