Songya Lake new home for great crested grebes

Great crested grebes, which should have flown north in spring, were found settled in the Songya National Wetland Park in Changsha county where they have bred their young.

The great crested grebe is a provincial key protected animal and also a national protected animal with ecological, scientific and economic value. It usually flies north in spring and migrates south in autumn.

Songya Lake is the biggest ecological lake-wetland in Hunan province. The great crested grebes spend the winter there every year and head back north to breed in March or April.

The staff of the Songya Lake Wetland Conservation Management Station said that the bird is a wintering migratory type in Hunan and that its number is increasing.

However, more than 50 adult birds have remained at Songya Lake to breed this year. This shows that great crested grebes have become all-year residents in Songya Lake as a result of better environment, water quality and rich supplies of fish and shrimp.