Bird ranger in China's Jiangxi becomes expert through continuous on-the-job learning

Chen Zhigao, a bird ranger at the Jiulian Mountain national nature reserve in east China’s Jiangxi Province, has become a bird expert after devoting himself to the protection and study of birds.

Photo shows a blue-throated bee-eater. (Photo/Chen Zhigao)

Born in 1974 in Long’nan city, where the nature reserve is located, Chen, now head of the Rundong protection and management station of the nature reserve, began to work in the thick forests of the nature reserve after he graduated from middle school.

Since then, Chen has remained dedicated to protecting birds at the nature reserve for 25 years. Chen’s duties include patrolling the nature reserve, preventing poaching activities, and popularizing related knowledge about the law.

To protect birds from poachers, Chen has tried every possible means to persuade poachers to stop their illegal hunting activities and encourage them to work outside or start their own businesses, such as agritainment and ecotourism. Thanks to his efforts, no reports of poaching activities have ever been made at the nature reserve.

Meanwhile, Chen can tell the names of various birds inhabiting the thick forests at the nature reserve by just listening to the sounds they make. “Chirps of birds make me feel good,” the bird ranger said.

Photo shows a yellow-breasted bunting. (Photo/Chen Zhigao)

During his patrol tasks, Chen often observes birds and takes photos of them. As the ecology at the nature reserve is getting better and better, a growing number of birds have taken shelter at the nature reserve in recent years, which makes Chen more excited.

Chen has made notable achievements in searching, observing and studying birds. After the management bureau at the nature reserve started to conduct investigations and monitor bird species, Chen devoted more of his efforts to the study of birds.

Chen once dreamed of observing white-eared night herons, an endangered bird species, at the nature reserve. The extremely rare white-eared night heron, known as the most “mystical” bird in the country, was first discovered in south China’s Hainan Province and then in several places in other provinces, including at a nature reserve in south China’s Guangdong Province, which is close to the Jiulian Mountain national nature reserve. He believes that the birds might be spotted at the nature reserve as well.

His efforts to trace the birds turned up nothing until 2020, when the nature reserve was equipped with a monitoring system consisting of infrared cameras, which eventually captured footage of the rare bird species. After hearing the news, Chen went to the place where the white-eared night herons were photographed inside the nature reserve and finally saw the rare birds with his own eyes.

Photo shows a red-billed leiothrix. (Photo/Chen Zhigao)

While observing white-eared night herons, Chen accidentally discovered Blyth’s kingfishers, a bird species under second-class state protection. Blyth’s kingfishers have attracted a large number of bird-watchers at the nature reserve since then.

When watching birds, Chen needs to wake up very early in the morning and stay up late at night. But the monitoring system has made it much easier for him to monitor the birds.

Over the past few decades, Chen has accumulated over 2,000 bird-watching records and photographed more than 240 bird species inside the nature reserve.

In 2020, Chen published a book on bird species at the Jiulian Mountain national nature reserve, which records 286 bird species and is so far the most comprehensive manual of birds at the nature reserve.

Chen never imagined in his wildest dreams that he could give a lecture to graduate students one day.

Photo shows Chen Zhigao. (Photo/Chen Zhihong)

In 2017, Chen served as a guide for a team of professors led by the deputy dean of the School of Civil Engineering under Guangzhou University in Guangdong Province for the study of bionics at the nature reserve. Deeply impressed by Chen’s profound knowledge of bird species and his skills in identifying bird species by just listening to the sounds they make, the deputy dean invited Chen to deliver a lecture at the university. In June 2018, Chen gave a lecture to graduate students and professors at the university.