Campaign launched to reveal black-headed gulls' migration secrets

Before tens of thousands of black-headed gulls flock to China's "spring city" Kunming to escape winter, a campaign was launched Friday to reveal the migration secrets of these gulls.

Jointly launched by organizations including the bird banding center of China and Kunming's birds society, the campaign aims to collect data and information to better understand the migration routes and living habits of black-headed gulls for better protection.

Zhao Xuebing, secretary-general of the society, said they had installed satellite trackers on 92 black-headed gulls and two brown-headed gulls between November 2018 and this March.

The solar-powered trackers can send radio signals and monitor the flight path, speed and altitude of the migrating birds, so as to display the gulls' habits, location and living conditions.

Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, is known as the "spring city" for its mild climate and year-round green environment. The city has seen an increasing number of black-headed gulls during winters since 1985.

Editor: John Li