New Black-faced Spoonbill site discovered in Quang Ninh province

On 19 December 2001, during a survey of the coastal zone of Quang Ninh province as part of the Danida-funded project Improved conservation planning through institutional strengthening in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, a team from the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), BirdLife International and Quang Ninh Department of Science, Technology and the Environment (DOSTE) discovered a new site for Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor on Ha Nam island in Yen Hung district. This globally endangered species, which has a global population of only around 800 individuals, breeds in the Korean peninsula and the coast of north-eastern China, and over-winters in Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau. Prior to this survey, the only known over-wintering sites for Black-faced Spoonbill in Vietnam were located in the Red River Delta. Ha Nam is the first over-wintering site to be found outside of the delta.

During the survey, only four juvenile Black-faced Spoonbills were recorded on Ha Nam island. However, because only a small part of the island was surveyed, it is possible that the actual number of spoonbills at the site is greater. A return visit will be made to the site during the annual sychronised Black-faced Spoonbill count, during which it is hoped that more data on the status of the species at the site can be collected. Ha Nam island also supports large numbers of over-wintering waterfowl, including Northern Pintail Anas penelope and Eurasian Wigeon A. acuta. At present, the bird populations at the site are threatened by the activities of sport hunters from Hanoi and Hai Phong cities. However, providing measures are implemented to control these activities, the potential to develop Ha Nam island as a key area for waterbird conservation is high.

In comparison with the coastal zone of the Red River Delta, the coastal zone of Quang Ninh province has received little ornithological attention in recent years. Therefore, a number of interesting discoveries were made. In the Ba Che estuary, two species listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam, Collared Crow Corvus torquatus and Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, were recorded. For both species, these are only the second recent records, illustrating the lack of data on the current status of these species in Vietnam. Around Tra Co island, near Mong Cai town, close to the Vietnam-China border, eight globally vulnerable Saunders's Gulls Larus saundersi were observed. This site was also found to be important for migratory shorebirds and other gull species.

Based on the results of the IEBR/BirdLife/Quang Ninh DOSTE survey, two sites in the coastal zone of Quang Ninh province qualify as Important Bird Areas (IBA): Ha Nam island and Tra Co island. Initial conservation activities for both sites are currently being planned, in order to secure their important biodiversity value.