Rare wetland bird seen in Fujian

A total of 21 black-faced spoonbills, a rare wetland bird, were spotted during a weeklong bird-watching event in Fuqing, East China's Fujian province, starting March 25.

Featuring a bill shaped like a long spoon, the bird, with the Latin name of Platalea minor, became classified as critically endangered by the International Union of Conservation of Nature in 2000. This means it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

The Fujian Bird Watching Society, organizer of the event, said there have been downwards of 4,000 birds of the kind globally by 2018, while the coastal area of the province witnessed 320 overwintering during the past winter season. The number has marked a record high since the society started to closely follow the migration of the bird in 2005.

Overall, a variety of 87 species were observed by bird-watchers during the annual event, known as the 37th Birds' Week of Fujian province.