World’s biggest bird feeder will use 500 tonnes of shellfish

Gerrit Vyn / Nature Picture Library

By Frank Swain

A race is on to build the world’s largest bird feeder, to save tens of thousands of migrating birds.

China’s Yalu Jiang nature reserve, near the North Korean border, covers 50 kilometres of estuarine mudflats. Every year, 250,000 birds stop off there to feast on clams. They include bar-tailed godwits, oystercatchers and endangered great knots. From there, they continue their epic journeys – in the case of the godwits, from New Zealand to Alaska.

However, the clams have been …

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

New Scientist – Earth