Watchers from home, abroad flock to spot new bird species

NANNING - A nature reserve along the China-Vietnam border, where a new bird species was spotted about a decade ago, has attracted a growing number of bird-watchers and conservationists.

Longzhou county in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region hosted its first international bird-watching festival last week. More than 80 bird-watching enthusiasts from Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin and Guangzhou, as well as Germany and Malaysia, participated in the festival.

In 2008, Chinese ornithologists Zhou Fang and Jiang Aiwu announced the discovery of a new bird species - the Nonggang babbler, or Stachyris nonggangensis, which was named after the region where it was discovered.