Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Zhao Mei) news: On January 3, 2026, Xinjiang Boda Nature Technology Co. released the results of this year's bird-watching event. Participants logged one species never before recorded in the region and ten rarely seen birds.

The event, the tenth annual "Big Year" organized by the Birds of Xinjiang website, brought the province's wild-bird list to 502. In 2025 alone, watchers documented 375 of those species, 73.82 percent of the total, and uploaded more than two thousand photos.

Over the past two decades, Xinjiang has added twenty species to China's official tally and sixty-seven to its own, clear proof that local conservation efforts are paying off.

Photo taken on January 11, 2025 shows survey team members spot the Baikal teal at Nanhu Park in Artux City, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The bird marks a new avian record for Xinjiang in 2025. (Photo by Ding Peng)

Baikal Teal

On January 11 and January 13, 2025, while carrying out the Xinjiang section of the national wintering waterbird survey, team members Ding Peng and Ni Ziyang found a small, plump wild duck with patterned cheeks. The first sighting was at Nanhu Park in Artux City, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture; the second was at Emin River National Wetland Park in Tacheng Prefecture. The bird was confirmed as the Baikal teal, a national second-class protected species and a new record for Xinjiang in 2025.

The male wears a bright mask of yellow, green, black and white. The female shows a pale round patch at the base of her bill.

Ding said that they nest mainly in Korea, Japan and Siberia; and in China, they winter in the northeast, central, east and south, including Hainan. They feed on the buds, soft leaves, seeds and fruit of water plants and stay only where the water is clean and food is plentiful.

Photo taken on August 22, 2025 shows bird-watching enthusiast from Guangdong encounters a northern hawk owl by chance at Hualin Park in Altay City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo offered by netizen @meimei)

Northern hawk owl

On August 22, 2025, a birder from south China's Guangdong watched a northern hawk owl snatch a mouse in Hualin Park, Altay City.

Ding said that the bird is a mid-size member of the owl family, round as a ball and cute to look at, yet the moment it sees prey it turns into a lightning-fast killer.

It lives in the mountains of western Xinjiang and the Tianshan Mountains, in old pine or mixed forest, and feeds mainly on mice and other rodents, but also on pheasants and hares.

Photo taken in early September 2025 shows bird-watching enthusiasts from Xinjiang capture image of a Baillon's crake at Manas National Wetland Park in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Xia Yong)

Little crake

On September 4, 2025, the little crake, a bird seldom seen in China, appeared at Manas National Wetland Park in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

It looks like a scaled-down chicken, but it is a water bird of the rail family in the crane order, and a national second-class protected species. Because it hides in thick cover, records in China are few and scattered; in Xinjiang, it has been found only during breeding or migration.

The bird lives in wet meadows, marshes and lakes, feeding on water plants, small invertebrates and insects. It swims and dives well, can hunt under water, and even runs fast across the surface.

Photo taken on September 18, 2025 shows the Indian paradise flycatcher appears in Lop County, Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Liu Jianming)

Indian paradise flycatcher

On September 18, 2025, an Indian paradise flycatcher showed up in Lop County, Hotan Prefecture. First seen in Xinjiang in 2022, it remains a very rare find in China.

Slightly bigger than a sparrow, this bird is the graceful long-tailed member of the paradise-flycatcher family. When it flits through the foliage, its streaming tail looks like silk, earning it the name "the flower among birds." It keeps to dense forest and lives on insects.

In ancient China, it was also called the "ribbon bird." Since the Chinese word for "ribbon" sounds like the word for "long life," people have long taken it as a sign of good luck and long years.

Photo taken on September 21, 2025 shows a parasitic jaeger appears in the wetlands around Kuitun City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Ding Peng)

Parasitic jaeger

On September 21, 2025, a parasitic jaeger from the Arctic turned up in the wetlands around Kuitun City. Eighteen years ago, this bird was a new record for Xinjiang, and since then it has been seen only once; this is the third sighting in those eighteen years.

According to Ding, parasitic jaeger nests on coastal tundra inside the Arctic Circle, then spends the rest of the year over southern seas far into the Southern Hemisphere. In China, it is a scarce visitor with just a handful of coastal records.

Known as the "sea robber," it makes its living by chasing other seabirds until they drop their food.

Photo taken on the afternoon of October 10, 2025 shows a red-necked grebe appears in the wetlands around Midong District, Urumqi City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Ding Peng)

Red-necked grebe

On the afternoon of October 10, 2025, birder Wang Rui and friends found a rare "wetland guest" on the marshes east of Midong District, Urumqi. It is the red-necked grebe.

The bird is a national second-class protected species and the largest grebe that visits China. In Xinjiang, it is seen only in migration, and even then just a few times a year. It swims and dives well, flies little, and when danger comes it slips under water or creeps into nearby reeds. Its menu is small fish, crustaceans, water insects, molluscs and soft water plants.

Photo taken on October 16, 2025 shows bird-watching enthusiasts spot the black-legged kittiwake at a pond in Yiwu County, Hami City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Ding Peng)

Black-legged kittiwake

On October 16, 2025, birder Wang Rui found an Arctic visitor, the black-legged kittiwake, on a pond in Yiwu County, Hami City. The species was added to the Xinjiang list in 2012 and seen once in 2013, then vanished for more than ten years. Between October 16 and December 16, 2025, birders photographed kittiwakes at three separate sites: Yiwu, Yuli and Kashi.

The black-legged kittiwake is a medium-sized seabird that nests in the high Arctic. Outside the breeding season, it lives entirely at sea, a true ocean bird. It winters in China along the coasts of Liaoning, Jiangsu and similar sites, and reaches Xinjiang only as a rare passage migrant.

Photo taken on October 18, 2025 shows bird-watching enthusiasts spot the red-breasted goose at the wetlands around Tacheng City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo offered by netizen Yexingcha)

Red-breasted goose

On October 18, 2025, a naturalist from Beijing spotted an Arctic stray, the red-breasted goose, in the wetlands around Tacheng. First recorded in Xinjiang in 2021 and seen again in 2024 at Nanping Reservoir, Moyu County, this is only the third time that the bird has been documented in the region.

As a species under second-class national protection, red-breasted goose is the smallest and most brightly colored of the geese. It nests on the high Arctic tundra of northern Siberia and winters in eastern, southern and central Europe and the Middle East. In China, it is a rare vagrant, with scattered reports from Henan, Sichuan and Hubei. They travel in tight flocks, stay busy and noisy, and live on water plants and algae.

Photo taken on October 28, 2025 shows survey team members Ni Ziyang and Ding Peng spot a rare bird species, the slender-billed gull (middle), at Bosten Lake in Bohu County, Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Ding Peng)

Slender-billed gull

On October 28, 2025, during the autumn water-bird count in Bohu County, survey team members Ni Ziyang and Ding Peng picked out a slender-billed gull on Bosten Lake.

Its long fine bill and neat look set it apart from the other gulls at once. The slender-billed gull is a scarce passage and winter visitor in China; it breeds around the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and Xinjiang has only a handful of records.

Photo taken on December 6, 2025 shows bird-watching enthusiasts encounter an olive-backed pipit by chance at Yamalike Mountain Forest Park in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Ding Peng)

Olive-backed pipit

On December 6, 2025, Ding ran into a "camouflaged" rarity while walking in Yamalik Mountain Forest Park, Urumqi, the olive-backed pipit.

About 16 cm long, slightly bigger than a sparrow, the bird is common in east and south China, but scarce in the west. Xinjiang has only a few reports, from Altay and Urumqi.

Instead of hopping like a sparrow, the pipit steps delicately on thin legs, and when it stops, it cocks and waves its tail in gentle time, as if dancing a quiet waltz with the woods.

Photo taken on December 3, 2025 shows a Japanese waxwing appears at Apple Park in Yining City, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Huang Peixin)

Japanese waxwing

On December 3, 2025, a small, crested bird wearing a coat of many colors appeared in Apple Park, Yining City. First recorded in Xinjiang in 2019, the Japanese waxwing is only the second time the species has been seen in the region.

The bird breeds in eastern Siberia and northeast China, then flies south to Japan and nearby areas each November and December. In size and habits, it is almost identical to the common Bohemian waxwing, but the Japanese waxwing ends in bright red, giving it the nickname "twelve-red," while its cousin shows yellow and is called "twelve-yellow."

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