Eksters Pica pica en Amoervalken Falco amurensis rond Qinhuangdao: de vogelhoofdstad van China

In May 2015, a group of Dutch birders visited the east coast of China near Beidaihe. Apart from migrants, they also observed breeding birds. From the seven raptor species breeding in this area only four were seen regularly: Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis, Northern Hobby Falco subbuteo, Eurasian Kestrel F. tinnunculus and Amur Falcon F. amurensis. In his papers on Beidaihe as ‘Bird Migration Hub of the Orient’, Martin Williams mentioned pesticides, hunting and trapping as factors responsible for the decline of large raptors. For Magpies - abundant in this region and regarded as a good luck omen - and for Amur Falcons breeding on Magpie nests, perhaps the absence of large raptors is a blessing in disguise. Hunting and trapping are now less common, thanks to education and law enforcement. At the Birding Festival in Beidahe, Qinhuangdao – the big city in this region of which Beidaihe is a district – was promoted as ‘China Bird-Watching Capital’. The growing number of people in China realising that birds need to be protected is hopeful.