Around 10 o’clock in the morning, more than 100 black-headed gulls arrived at Kunming Haigeng Park. People were thrilled to see them, and flocked to the bank to feed them and took photos of them. With a new gull-watching season coming, people can see these little beautiful birds again. 

“We came here to relax, and suddenly saw these seagulls flying close to the bank. They were not afraid of humans. If there is anyone throwing the food to them, they will fly closer to the bank. We are excited to see them again after a year,” said Mr Yang, a Kunming citizen.  

Seagulls arriving at the bank seem to be familiar with this place already. They are not nervous, and instead they fly over to wait for people to feed them. Black-headed gulls are attracting a large number of visitors. Some tourists from other provinces were amazed by the view of natural migratory birds.

The data shows that black-headed gulls started to arrive in Kunming and forage around November in the past few years. The number of them reached the peak in December. Since 1985, the first time seagulls came to Kunming. They migrated to Kunming for winter for consecutive 37 years, and lived harmoniously with people here. Seagulls have already become a city card of Kunming.  

Until October 21, there have been 2000 seagulls arriving at Dianchi Lake. In order to make sure that they are safe here during the winter, Kunming Forestry and Grassland Bureau will continuously carry out the feeding of black-headed gulls at Haigeng park, Daguan park, Yunnan Nationalities Village and so on. The habitats and foraging grounds will be patrolled and monitored. It is planned to ring 200 red-headed gulls, and gather their serum, throat swabs and feces to examine.

33.3 tons of safe and nutritious gull food will be purchased to ensure enough supply to seagulls. Also the food should be placed on the bank. It is forbidden to throw it in the water, in case of water pollution. 

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(Editors:Ines, Rachel)