Officials say a record number of black-faced spoonbills spent the winter in Taiwan this year thanks to the improved wetlands environment.

The Forestry Bureau says local bird societies spotted 2,034 of the endangered migratory birds during the 2014/2015 winter, an increase of 375 from last year and the highest ever.

The result was published as part of a survey organized by the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society and conducted by bird watching groups in East Asia, which also found that the number of the black-faced spoonbills worldwide increased by 533 to 3,259.

Hong Kong and Japan also saw increases in the number of black-faced spoonbills during the latest survey.

Cigu Salt Pan Wetland and Sicao Wetland in Tainan have become the main areas where black-faced spoonbills spend the winter.

Officials say the number of black-faced spoonbills recorded in Qieting Wetland in neighboring Kaohsiung also rose to more than 200, from only a few dozen in the previous survey, because of efforts made to improve the local environment.

The milder winter weather also contributed to the increased numbers, since the birds usually stay in sheltered locations when it rains and are less easily spotted.


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