Right now, it is the large-scale migration season of wintering migratory birds. Tianjin is located at a key node in the East Asia-Australasia migratory bird migration channel. As important "stops" for migratory birds, major wetland nature reserves have welcomed large numbers of southward migrating birds.
Among the migratory bird clusters in Beidagang Wetland Nature Reserve, the largest number is the painted duck, which currently reaches more than 70,000. 27 great flamingos were also monitored here, setting a new high in the number of birds monitored in the Beidagang Wetland Nature Reserve.
In the Qilihai Wetland Nature Reserve, the daily monitoring peak of Oriental White Storks is 1,600, and the Daily Monitoring Peak of Painted-faced Ducks is more than 39,000. In addition, three red-crowned cranes, a national first-level protected animal, were detected here for the first time in 20 years. The population of rare birds such as white-naped cranes and relict gulls has also increased.
Satellite positioning and tracking show that the Oriental White Stork sisters "do not take the usual path".
Let’s get to know two female Oriental white storks, national first-level protected animals. They were rescued by the Tianjin Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center due to injuries and were named “Xinxin” and “Rongrong”.
After a period of careful care, they were all recovered and released into the wild in Qilihai Wetland in Tianjin. At that time, the scientific research team of Tianjin Normal University also wore satellite trackers for "Xinxin" and "Rongrong" to continuously track and monitor their migration routes and living conditions.
Two years have passed. Based on their tracking and monitoring over the past few years, what interesting discoveries have the researchers made?
When scientific researchers were sorting out the trajectory data returned by the Oriental white storks "Xinxin" and "Rongrong" over the past two years, they were delighted to find that their migration routes were "unusual."
Wu Hong, a member of Tianjin Normal University’s wildlife resources protection research team, said: “Rongrong” was released in November, when it was time for it to move south. We observed it immediately heading south, all the way to Poyang Lake, the traditional wintering place of the Oriental White Stork. But it did not return to Northeast China and chose to breed in Tangshan, Hebei Province. Another Oriental white stork, "Xinxin", arrived in Dongying, Shandong Province after its release. After two years of continuous tracking, we found that it basically calls Dongying, Shandong Province its home, where it spends the winter and summer.
The researchers also discovered that although "Xinxin" stayed in Dongying, Shandong, during this period, it also visited Tangshan, Hebei for two consecutive years. Like an "autumn outing", it stayed for a while and then returned to Dongying, Shandong.
Wu Hong introduced: In the autumn of 2025, the satellite tracking system detected that "Xinxin" flew north to the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, and finally came to Tangshan, Hebei. After staying there for more than 20 days, it quickly returned to Dongying, Shandong. At first we thought it was just an occasional phenomenon. In 2026, "Xinxin" once again repeated the "Autumn Outing" behavior.
Wu Hong added: We can clearly see that "Xinxin" and "Rongrong" interacted more frequently in the Tangshan area in 2025, but the frequency decreased in 2026. We speculate that these two released Oriental white storks may have established a more stable relationship network in their respective populations, thus reducing the frequency of interactions. This also provides a good basis for us to study communication between populations.
Currently, staff are continuing to track the breeding status of the two Oriental white storks, conducting laboratory testing and research based on samples such as feces and feathers, and conducting multi-dimensional analysis from macro migration trajectories to microscopic physiological information to provide support for Oriental white stork population protection, habitat restoration and other work.
