
Back in the 80s and 90s, the Yellow-breasted Bunting was a regular winter visitor to Hong Kong’s farmlands. Sadly, due to global illegal hunting and urban development, wetlands have drastically shrunk. In just 30 short years, the global population of these birds plummeted by an alarming 80–90%.
Although many countries have now
enacted conservation laws, black-market poaching and urbanization continue to make the path to recovery incredibly difficult for these farmland birds. Every autumn, they fly thousands of miles from Siberia down to Southeast Asia to spend the winter. The paddy fields in Ho Sheung Heung, Sheung Shui, serve as a vital "refueling station" during their epic migration.
