Birds Take a Rest in QingdaoQingdao, the port city of East China's Shandong Province, has become a paradise for birds thanks to the enhanced awareness and wide participation of local residents in bird protection.Located in the southwest of Shandong Peninsula and along the Yellow Sea, Qingdao is a port city with damp air, abundant rainfall and moderate temperatures. Fifty-two islands are dotted along its 700-kilometre-long coastline. Migratory birds pass Qingdao every year. Flocks of seagulls' warble merrily as hundreds of volunteers throw crumbs of bread and cake along the seashore of Qingdao Bay. However, in the past only a few seagulls spent their winter there, Qian Xin'an, vice-director of Qingdao Forestry Bureau said, because food for them used to be scarce. Local residents began feeding the seagulls in 1994. The feeding usually last from early December until the end of April. Most of them are young volunteers and students. Some are even kindergarten children accompanied by their parents. They have already hung up 220 artificial nests since 1996. Over 80 per cent of the nests have attracted birds including cuckoos and tomtits. |
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