Popular engagement

Bird conservation is not far removed from the public sphere. Everyone can play a part.

In recent years, bird-watching has gained more popularity in China and some birdwatchers are already playing a role in conservation. Qiu Xiaohua is one of them.

The 50-year-old engineer works in Shanghai and commutes weekly to his home in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He has been a birdwatcher for more than 10 years and can identify more than 500 species.

Qiu says that for him, and for many others, a typical bird-watching experience includes different aspects, such as observation, identification, taking photos or videos, recording bird calls, as well as recording the time and place at which each bird is spotted. Finally, all this information is uploaded and shared via websites, data centers and social media platforms.

The amount of data collected by one individual may seem small, but when the data generated by a large number of bird-watchers is added together, it can make a big difference.

"Actually, bird-watchers now contribute to many new bird distribution records. Our research team is small and the scope of our surveys is narrow," Ma says. "However, thousands of bird-watchers nationwide are collecting data, which can result in a large-scale database supporting research in various fields, such as bird distribution, movement patterns and population dynamics."