By Jiang Jianhua

The wild oriental white stork family in Nantong forest safari park, after the father bird went missing on 29 April, whether the 3 less than 1 month old baby birds can grow up successfully fed by single parent the mother bird, has attracted readers’ attention continuously.

On 11 June, after several days of short distance flying training, the ‘firstborn’ and ‘second child’ of the 3 baby birds flew to feeding ground with their mother one after another, which meant: the successful breeding of oriental white stork in the wild in Nantong will be realized soon.

Nantong is close to the Yangtze River and the sea, has dense river network, vast intertidal zone, and excellent ecological environment. It’s the ideal habitat or migration stopover for many wild birds, especially many wild waterfowls. According to birds census and research of birds watchers, there are 19 orders, 61 families, 421 species recorded resident birds, migratory birds and passing birds in Nantong, which accounts for one third of the total number of bird species in China. As an endangered bird, oriental white stork which is called ‘national treasure among birds’ is not commonly seen in Nantong, and their successful breeding in the wild has not been recorded before.