It is cold by the end of the year, but Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve has reached the busiest time of the year. Tens of thousands of migratory birds from the north settle down here for the winter, including many rare bird species. Not long ago, researchers in the reserve monitored six national first-class protected animals, curly pelicans.

During the peak migration period of migratory birds, the reserve strengthened daily monitoring. Through video monitoring platform and field investigation, researchers monitored a total of 6 curly pelicans twice in the reserve. Curly pelicans form three isolated populations in the west, central and east of the world. Among them, the Eastern population breeding in the west of Mongolia is currently small. The total number of curly pelicans in the whole Eastern population is 130, and the protection situation is the most critical.

The adult curly pelican, 1.6 to 1.8 meters long and up to 10 kilograms, is the largest pelican. It is good at swimming, likes wide water surface or lake swamp, and takes fish as the main food. "The curly pelican has a large mouth and a large throat sac under the mouth, which are more suitable for feeding fish in the wetland. This special structure can catch a lot of fish and bring them to the nest to feed their own kids", said Feng Xuesong, Head of Scientific Research Section of Management Affairs Center of Shanghai Chongming Dongtan Natural Reserve.

In recent years, Dongtan Natural Reserve has continued to manage the ecological environment, forming a perfect ecological system composed of deep water, shallow water, islands, vegetation and benthos, attracting more and more migratory birds to live here for winter, including star species such as oriental white stork, little swan, white headed crane and black faced spoonbill, with the total number of monitored birds increasing from 160,000 in 2016 to 220,000 in 2021.