In late October, the first batch of black faced spoonbills arrived in Shenzhen, causing cheers in the local community, "Our star bird is back!" In recent years, various migratory bird activities represented by the national first-class protected wild animal black faced spoonbills have become increasingly frequent in Guangdong; Thanks to the strengthened protection and restoration efforts of migratory bird habitats, the number of migratory bird species in Guangdong is also increasing, currently exceeding 400. In tropical and subtropical regions, mangroves are one of the most representative habitats for migratory birds; In observations across Guangdong, the number and activity of migratory birds are synchronized with the area of mangrove forests, showing an overall trend of first decreasing and then increasing. On November 6th, the world's first "International Mangrove Center" was unveiled in Shenzhen, and official international cooperation followed. Countries such as Madagascar and Cambodia signed cooperation agreements with the center. With the active cross regional and cross-border cooperation from the public to the government, the protection of migratory bird habitats has been further strengthened. The East Asia Australia migration route through Guangdong has become the largest and busiest area among the nine major migration zones in the world. Where is the 'biological compass' that accurately visits them every year? The vast sky, where are the geese heading? "The folk song lyrics express their worries through the migration of migratory birds, and also raise many people's questions: where do they go after flapping their wings and disappearing from sight? How can we always return on schedule? This problem was not solved until nearly a century ago. Through new technologies such as satellite and remote sensing monitoring, the scientific community has identified nine major migration routes for migratory birds worldwide through long-term tracking and observation. Among them, there are two routes passing through Guangdong, and various migratory birds often migrate along the East Asian Australian migration route through the southern Guangdong region. Faced with such a huge migration range, the annual migration routes of migratory birds are relatively fixed, and a considerable number of migratory birds can even achieve punctuality every year, thus forming a relatively fixed bird watching season. In Guangdong, the bird watching season starts in October every year and basically ends in the spring of the following year. How do migratory birds accurately complete long-distance journeys without the use of any tools? Since the establishment of modern biology, people have been fascinated by this issue. Linnaeus, the father of biological classification, and Darwin, the father of evolution, have conducted related research. Research methods such as bird banding have also been used since the late 18th century. As research deepens, scientists have found that the formation of migratory ability in birds cannot be generalized. As for the skill of pathfinding alone, some migratory birds have flown with their parents since childhood, while others have learned it from other populations or even other types of migratory birds. However, even so, some migratory birds can fly to the same wetland without any deviation during their tens of thousands of kilometers of journey, making navigation too precise. This has led to further speculation that migratory birds may have a "biological compass" that uses magnetic fields for navigation, similar to large-scale migratory fish. In 2021, we came a step closer to the answer to the mystery. A blockbuster research result was published in the top journal Nature: Xie Can, a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences, and an international team composed of laboratories at Oxford University in the United Kingdom and the University of Oldenburg in Germany found that the cryptochrome 4 protein (Cry4) of migratory birds is more sensitive to the magnetic field than that of non migratory birds, revealing the mechanism of magnetic induction mediated by Cry4, which is likely to be the magnetic sensor that has been looking for for a long time, namely, the "biological compass". The transformation of "supply stations" into "settlements" and rare migratory birds into "stars" of cities is precisely these mysterious and complex mechanisms that enable migratory birds to always receive stable supplies and complete the long migration process year after year. At present, the national first-class protected wild animal Black faced Spoonbill has arrived in Shenzhen as scheduled. Deep in the mangrove forest of Shenzhen Neilingding Futian National Nature Reserve, they walk on the mudflat, digging with their long beaks like rice shovels from time to time, and feeding delicious seafood into their stomachs. In recent years, the popularity of black faced spoonbills has gradually increased in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and they have become a "star species" out of the circle. There are many migratory birds that arrive with it, and after eating and drinking here, a considerable number of them will continue to migrate south, with the farthest place to settle being New Zealand. Starting from Guangdong, heading south is the vast sea, and this rest is particularly important. Before human intervention in the lives of migratory birds, mangroves, as the most food rich ecosystem, were clearly the most ideal supply station for migratory birds; But in recent decades, with the intensification of human activities, global mangrove forests have degraded, habitat areas and food have rapidly decreased, and the number of migratory birds has also rapidly declined. Since the late 1980s, Shenzhen has been working on restoring mangrove forests; After Guangdong has introduced multiple mangrove restoration plans in recent years, the speed of mangrove restoration in Shenzhen, Zhanjiang, Shanwei and other places has accelerated. By November 2024, Shenzhen has completed the restoration of 103.08 hectares of mangrove forests. On November 6th, the agreement for the establishment of the International Mangrove Center was officially signed in Shenzhen, making Shenzhen the world's first "International Mangrove Center" to be unveiled. With the participation of conservation organizations such as the Mangrove Foundation (MCF), the local attention to the quality of mangrove restoration continues to increase. A person in charge of the organization stated that they are concerned that the introduction of foreign mangrove species during the early restoration process may occupy shallow waters, instead squeezing the foraging space for migratory birds and various animals. In recent years, they have successively carried out work to replace it with local mangrove tree species, further creating high-quality ecological spaces. Migratory birds can be regarded as "indicator species" of the ecological environment, and their activities are highly correlated with the quality of the environment. After the gradual restoration of mangroves, the number of migratory birds in Shenzhen has also increased, with the number of black faced spoonbills remaining at around 300 in the past 10 years. The "Shenzhen Bird List 2024 Edition" released by the Shenzhen Bird Watching Association includes a total of 431 species of birds, accounting for nearly 30% of the total number of bird species in China; There are over 400 species of birds with migratory habits throughout the province. In addition, since the ecological construction of Green Beauty Guangdong began, citizens have discovered a new trend. In summer, rare migratory birds such as black faced spoonbills can occasionally be seen in Shenzhen Bay, Futian mangrove forests, and other places. A person in charge of the Natural Resources Bureau of Futian District introduced that on multiple occasions, researchers have reminded them to pay attention to the phenomenon of "migratory birds becoming resident birds". This phenomenon may be caused by the breeding habits and health conditions of migratory birds, or it may be due to the local environment and food becoming abundant, and supply stations becoming settlements The person in charge said. The unveiling of the "International Mangrove Center" has led to closer cooperation in global bird conservation. The news that the black faced spoonbill may become a resident bird quickly spread to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong photographers Chen Tigen and Mo Zhencheng had expectations: "The black faced spoonbill breeds in the north and has never been photographed breeding feathers before. Now may it have a chance?" "Will it be in Mai Po or Futian?" The Lingding Futian National Nature Reserve in Shenzhen and the Mai Po Wetland in Hong Kong are both internationally important wetlands recognized by the Wetland Convention. Nowadays, the increasingly lush mangroves in Shenzhen and Hong Kong are connecting the two wetlands into one. At the same time, actions to protect migratory bird habitats across regions and borders are becoming increasingly frequent within the East Asian Australian migration zone. At the grassroots level, bird watching organizations and nature conservation organizations in Shenzhen and Hong Kong have been collaborating since 2017 to conduct a global synchronized census of the Black faced Spoonbill, which has now become one of the authoritative sources of data on the population size of the Black faced Spoonbill. At the official level, before the unveiling of the International Mangrove Center, countries such as Madagascar and Cambodia signed cooperation agreements with it to jointly protect the habitats of migratory birds. The East Asia Australia Migratory Area Partnership Agreement is an important platform for cooperation in related fields. The agreement aims to provide a framework for cooperation at the migratory area level to protect migratory birds and their habitats within the migratory area. At present, institutions such as Shenzhen Futian Mangrove Forest, Hong Kong Mai Po Wetland, Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve, Sun Yat sen University, Mangrove Foundation, and multiple bird watching societies have become official partners of the agreement in Guangdong and Hong Kong. The joint efforts of various countries and sectors are gradually yielding results. More than 50 million migratory waterbirds of over 210 species use the East Asia Australia migration zone for migration every year, making it the largest and busiest migration zone among the nine major migration zones in the world, "said Wan Ziming, Deputy Director of the Wildlife Conservation Department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. As the sky gradually darkened, from the bird watching platform of Futian Mangrove, the black faced spoonbill in front of us, the nearby mangrove forest, the "spring cocoon" in the distance, and the sunset in the sky were perfectly connected. The photographers aimed their cameras at the magnificent landscape and pressed the shutter button, while the white bird's gaze was fixed on the lush greenery of Mai Po. In the eyes of migratory birds soaring thousands of miles, the distance between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is only a flutter of their wings, and the green extension has only one name: home. (New Society)