When winter arrives in Hong Kong, so do tens of thousands of migratory birds.
Hong Kong Wetland Park organises the Bird Watching Festival so that visitors can see the birds up close, as they migrate from the north to the south for winter.
Wetland Park has long been a place where migratory birds take a rest and nest for a while. Since this year's festival is themed "Home for Birds" the park has organised activities that will introduce people to different bird species' fascinating daily habits.
Avian architects
Birds are born architects and build nests to lay eggs and raise their chicks. They are also innovative and make use of materials around them to build nesting sites in tree canopies, reeds, muddy shores, tree cavities, eaves and even power boxes.
"The structure of the nests is complicated, but creative. If they are building the nests near where people live, they will use materials like wool, plastic or nylon strings found nearby to build their nests. Different birds use different materials depending on their size," Wetland Park Manager Cheng Nok-ming explained.
These skills not only show how birds can adapt to living with humans, he added, but also their magnificent craftsmanship when designing their nests.
Visitors to the festival's thematic exhibition will be able to see a variety of bird nests built at various nesting sites and can even try to build a nest themselves.
Artificial nest boxes have also been installed to attract bird nesting in the park. Mr Cheng said visiting birds use about half of them.
"Some species of owl, namely the Collared Scops Owl and Asian Barred Owlet, as well as some small little birds such as the Cinereous Tit, like breeding in tree holes. However, our trees are still too young and don't have tree holes suitable for them. So we made artificial nest boxes."
Homes for birds
Hong Kong is located on the world's largest "flyway" or migratory route, the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, which makes it a great place to capture the birds' movements.
Twenty artists from nine countries that lie in the Flyway have created original prints in different media to raise awareness about the migratory waterbirds that travel their lengths twice a year.
Bird watching enthusiasts can meet the park's professional waterbird surveyors and help them collect ecological data. Participants who have completed the training workshop will be invited to join the 2015 international Black-faced Spoonbill census.
During the Bird Watching Festival, which runs until March, visitors can take part in guided tours, orienteering games, lectures, nature-in-art classes, origami workshops, binocular-making classes and other fun activities. Click here for details.
