A cygnet discovered in Qinghai, NW China

Recently, bird watching enthusiasts discovered and photographed a large waterfowl mixed with a group of Cygnus at Qianzi Lake Wetlands in the Yellow River Basin in Guide County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. It was confirmed that the waterfowl was a cygnet.

The waterfowl’s size and the features of its mouth are significantly different from that of the Cygnus, and it has a white tagged collar . According to experts from the Office of Animal Management at the Qinghai Province Forestry Bureau and the Bird Banding Center at the Chinese Forestry Science Research Institute, and after referencing professional materials including Chinese Fauna: Features of Birds and Geese; Chinese Bird Classification and Distribution (Third Edition); and the Qinghai Province Economic Fauna, it was confirmed to be a cygnet, which is a newly recorded bird species in Qinghai Province.

According to experts from the Office of Animal Management at the Qinghai Province Forestry Bureau, the tagged cygnet is female and around three years old. She was tagged on August 13, 2017 by bird scientist Didier Vangeluwe in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region of Tyumen, Russia. The tag number is Moskwa AA-3356 with the white neck ring 629X.

The cygnet belongs to the Anatidae genus of the swan family, and it is a second-class national protected wild animal. They mainly breed in northern Siberia, Russia, and winter in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. It is a winter migratory bird.

It is understood that this cygnet was discovered in the Dianchi Wetland of Dunhuang Yangguan National Nature Reserve in Gansu Province last winter and has been companied by some Cygnus. On December 15 this year, it was discovered by bird watchers in the Qianzi Lake Wetland in the Yellow River Basin in Guide County, Qinghai Province.

The Office of Animal Management of the Qinghai Province Forestry Bureau plans to strengthen communication with Russian scientific research institutions to determine the wintering and migratory routes of this cygnet in China.