Video | Birdwatching in Hong Kong – everything you need to know, starting with where to go
The city is a treasure trove for twitchers, with everything from tiny songbirds to towering herons on permanent or seasonal display. Here’s our guide on how to turn a hobby into a passion
More than 500 species of birds have been recorded in Hong Kong – around five per cent of the world’s bird species.
It is a remarkable figure that partly reflects the Chinese special administrative region’s subtropical climate, location on the south China coast, which is visited by many migrants, and its varied habitats – ranging from coastal mudflats and farmland, to city parks, forests and grassy uplands.
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Varying in size from songbirds less than 10cm long, to herons taller than toddlers, Hong Kong’s birds can be fascinating to see. Some have spectacular colours and extravagant plumes, as if ready made for photography. But no photograph can capture the way certain birds appear to have personalities, nor their wonderfully wide repertoire of songs and calls.
“Birdwatching enables people to make new discoveries all the time, such as identifying new species, seeing new bird behaviours, and going to new places with unfamiliar habitats,” says Lam Chiu-ying, who was chairman of the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society from 1997 to 2004, and pioneered and promoted birdwatching by local people, propelling society membership from 300 to over 1,000.
“It takes people outdoors, improves health, enhances appreciation of the beauty of nature and life. It makes people more observant, generally raises the level of awareness of the person’s mind, widens one’s world view.”
This gives an inkling as to why some start birdwatching as a casual hobby, only to see it develop into a lifelong passion. If your interest is piqued, you are in luck: this is a prime time to be out looking for them, with winter visitors present, along with year-round residents.
