Waterfowl resource assessment during spring migration in Yingkou coastal wetland, China

Annual continuous surveys of waterfowl resource in Yingkou coastal wetland were carried out during spring migration of 2016－2020. According to the long-term monitoring, a total of 39 waterfowl species belonging to 4 orders and 8 families were found. Shorebirds, gulls and ducks, accounting for 92.31% of the total species, had emerged as the main groups in spring migration period. Both waterfowl species and individual numbers showed an increasing trend from 2016 to 2020. Six dominant species, Tadorna tadorna, Limosa lapponica, Limosa limosa, Numenius madagascariensis, Charadrius alexandrinus and Calidris alpina, were under dynamic changing among different years. All of the 39 waterfowl species recorded in Yingkou coastal wetland have been listed in domestic and foreign conservation regulations. Further, this wetland was found to be very important for the survival of the endangered Numenius madagascariensis, vulnerable Saundersilarus saundersi, Tadorna tadorna, Charadrius alexandrinus, Limosa limosa, Limosa lapponica and Calidris alpina, with species population exceed 1% of global or flyway population. These results indicate that Yingkou coastal wetland has the great value for protection. Thus, this unprotected wetland should be well protected through designating new protected area or putting into ecological conservation redline, and be a name on the List of Ramsar wetlands of international importance as soon as possible, for better conservation of waterfowls and their habitat.