After this year's Spring Festival, He Jianzhu heard about an upcoming bird race scheduled for March in Napo county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Recently retired, the 55-year-old from Kunming, Yunnan province, eagerly looked forward to teaming up with three other birders to participate in the event.

"Many bird-watchers avoid races because they find the schedules too tight to capture quality photos, sometimes requiring them to team up with unfamiliar birders, and the experience can be quite exhausting," He told China Daily. "However, I am a huge fan of these races. They offer a fantastic opportunity to see a vast number of species over just two or three days and to explore breathtaking natural habitats. Plus, the races allow me to meet and learn from experienced birders."

Bird races are competitive team-based events where participants attempt to identify and record the highest number of bird species within a designated geographic area and time frame. These races have surged in popularity across China in recent years due to a rapidly expanding community of enthusiasts, enhanced ecological awareness, and the power of social media to coordinate and share sightings.

Since first discovering the world of birdwatching in 2018, inspired by the sight of photographers capturing images of a white-throated kingfisher in a park near her home, He has participated in several races across the country, relishing the competitive atmosphere. "Bordering with Yunnan, Napo is just a few hours from Kunming and is renowned for its rich avian life," she said. "Although I've never been to Napo, it's considered one of the best birding destinations in Guangxi. I decided to seize the opportunity to join the race."

She reached out to Dai Han, with whom she had previously teamed up for a birding event, and Xu Yongbin, a seasoned birdwatcher she met during another race. Additionally, a friend introduced her to Guo Zhichao, a young but talented birder from Hainan province.

Upon learning the registration details for the Napo Bird-watching Festival online, the four applied as a team and were thrilled to receive an invitation to be one of 15 to participate in the March 26-28 race. They named their team "Cranes Above the Clouds".

"Events held in birding hot spots are always popular," He said. "Being an active contributor to the birding report website managed by the Rosefinch Center is often a prerequisite for the opportunity to participate in the race."

The Rosefinch Center, a national nonprofit organization promoting bird-watching and bird conservation in China, organized the Napo bird race along with the local government.

Plan for a win

The team headed to Napo on March 23, allowing themselves a day and a half to explore the recommended birding spots. "We're not just casual bird-watchers participating in a race for fun," He said. "We're serious birders looking to devise a strategy to win."

Dai Han, 41, has secured first place in four out of the 12 races he has attended, despite only beginning bird-watching five years ago.

"I tend to get deeply engrossed in any hobby I pursue," Dai said. As a freelance nature tour guide with experience in various biodiversity surveys, he is known among his peers for his competitiveness and fast-paced birding style.

Guo Zhichao, 37, graduated from the prestigious Peking University with a doctorate in neuroscience. Since beginning bird-watching in 2013, he has developed a keen interest in identifying species by their songs and calls. He diligently records bird sounds in the wild and uploads them to a major website dedicated to sharing wildlife sounds. Guo is seriously considering integrating his passion for avian life into his future research. The team appointed Dai as their leader and driver, with Guo as their race route planner.

On March 24, they spotted and photographed a Mrs. Hume's pheasant, a rare bird classified as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, and protected under Chinese law.

"Although we were not the first to record the bird in Napo, we were still thrilled by the discovery," He said. "At the festival's opening ceremony, a local official highlighted the sightings of the species as one of the most significant findings of the event."

According to Lei Jinyu, secretary-general of the Rosefinch Center, Napo has only one regional nature reserve and one county-level reserve, due to a lack of records of key protected species like Mrs. Hume's pheasant. Sightings of the bird might help elevate the regional reserve to national level in the future.

After visiting most of the sites for the birding event, the team set their goal at identifying 150 species, estimating that all teams combined could record around 250 species. "We set our estimated number at 247," Guo said.

Beyond expectations

The competition unfolded almost exactly as they had predicted. Each day, they rose at 6 am and began their pursuit after a quick breakfast. Lunches consisted of simple field rations, while dinners were typically around 9 pm. After dinner, they continued watching until midnight.

At 63, Xu Yongbin is the oldest and most casual member of the team. "My teammates turned leisurely observation into an athletic pursuit," he said afterward. "To be honest, I could hardly follow their pace."

On March 26, the team opted to forgo the hotel rooms provided by the organizers in Napo's county town, choosing instead to stay in Bainan township at their own expense. That decision saved them two hours of travel time, which they could dedicate to birding.

Upon arriving at a site, Guo would listen intently to the various bird sounds and try to identify the species for his teammates. The team would then attempt to spot and photograph the birds. "Most of the time, his identifications were spot on," He said. "It was truly impressive."

By the end of the first day, the team had recorded 120 species, including several unique to the area, such as the pale-throated wren-babbler. Their tally ranked first among all participating teams.

On March 27, their record surged to 155 species, surpassing their initial estimate for the entire race and maintaining their lead in the competition. The highlight was spotting the green cochoa, a target for many participants but missed by most. "After the first two days, we revised our goal to 170 species and felt confident we could win," Guo said.

When the race concluded on March 28, their final count reached 177 species, which Dai said was "an exceptional number for any birding event nationwide".

"In the last half-day, we pushed hard to add more species to our list," Dai added. "But as is often the case in these races, we had already seen most of the birds in the area and spent hours trying to find one or two new ones."

They completed the race, returned to the hotel and awaited their turn for record defense. Ultimately, they learned they had placed second, behind another team that recorded over 200 species.

"That means another team spotted about 30 more species than we did on the final day of the race," Dai said.

He wondered, "How could another team manage to see so many on the last day?"

Initially, she said, "we felt their record was a bit fishy".

Fair play

Later, Wei Ming, head of the Rosefinch Center's Kunming office — also a friend of He and one of the judges for the race — explained Cranes Above the Clouds had missed a crucial detail: a small plot of wetland in the field. There, the winning team had spotted several waterbird species, including the painted snipe, a new record for Napo.

"We were actually quite close to the wetland," Guo said. "I should have checked the satellite map to identify its potential. It was my mistake."

However, Dai and He were skeptical of Guo's explanation. "Even if we had located the wetland and added several waterbird species, we would still have been 20 species behind," Dai said. "We're used to losing in bird races, but not by such a wide margin."

What was comforting for them was that, after the defense session, their record was confirmed by the judges without any species being deleted. "Most teams had several suspicious species removed from their records," Wei said. The winning team initially presented a record of 204 species, of which nine were deleted by the judges.

"At least we presented the most solid record," He said, noting that the team had rigorously followed the rules. Of the birds they had spotted before the race, they failed to find nine species, including the pheasant.

"I saw a bluethroat, a new record for Napo, in the field," He said. "I was trembling with excitement. But the other three team members didn't see the bird, so we left it off our list. We tried hard to find the Himalayan owl, a bird that most teams managed to spot. It turned out that it regularly visited the hotel compound. We didn't ask the other teams for its location, so we missed that species. Although seriously competitive, we prioritize fair play."

In the end, Cranes Above the Clouds was one of several teams awarded a breakthrough prize for their sighting of a snow-browed flycatcher.