Over 41,000 black-headed gulls winter in Kunming

Photo taken on Nov. 11, 2020 shows black-headed gulls near the Jijiang Yangtze River Bridge in Jiangjin District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

More than 41,000 black-headed gulls have arrived in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming for the winter, local authorities said on Monday.

A record 41,600 black-headed gulls have this year been detected in over 60 habitats across Kunming, known for its balmy weather, according to a citywide observation project undertaken by staff of the Kunming Municipal Forestry and Grassland Bureau and the Kunming Ornithological Society on Sunday.

Wang Zhibin, vice secretary-general of the Kunming Ornithological Society, said this year's number of birds is a slight increase over tallies in recent years, which have stabilized at about 40,000.

Since 1985, the red-billed birds have been migrating to Kunming from Siberia and other regions every winter. Kunming is dubbed the "city of eternal spring" for its pleasant climate throughout the year.