10 Birds to Look Out for in Xi’an

Article by John McGovern

Living in the city you may be accustomed to the lack of wildlife around, but if you look closely the parks and gardens of Xi’an are home to many different types of birds. You’ve probably noticed the azure-winged magpies, spotted doves, blackbirds and tree sparrows that are literally everywhere, or even a great spotted woodpecker common to university campuses.
Here in Xi’an we have a lot of green space, from Daminggong to Qujiang Lake and the new Botanical Gardens, there are a lot of places to explore, and while you do so, here are ten birds to look out for that are all common residents.

Common Swift
雨燕

Firstly, you’ve got no excuse for not noticing this one. Along with the return of the barn swallows in April, you will also see amongst them common swifts, especially around the Bell Tower and Drum Tower where they swoop around catching flies. These birds fly almost continuously, nearly never coming down to land, and when they do they cling to the sides of walls or roofs rather than ever landing on the floor.

Common Tern
普通燕鸥

The Chinese name for the tern is literally “swallow gull”. More commonly thought of as a seabird, there are common birds around Chanba, Qujiang Lake, and even sometimes on the moat around the city wall. Different from the ungainly gulls, they swoop and dive like a swallow and you generally only need to watch them for a few minutes before you’ll see them dive arrow-like into the water to catch a fish.

Common Kingfisher
普通翠鸟

Speaking of catching fish, here is the emperor of the species. The ‘cui’ in the Chinese term means emerald green, the flash of colour you see as the kingfisher flies past, which is the same character as in Cuihua Mountain or Cuihua Road. Walking around Qujiang Lake you are likely to see it flying low over the water, or even sitting on a rock waiting for its opportunity. I have even seen it on the rock in the pond in Shaanxi Normal University, where you’re literally standing only a few metres from this impressive bird.

White Wagtail
白鹡鸰

While you’re near the water, look out for the white wagtails hopping around at the side, common all around the city near lakes, rivers or the city walls moat. You’ll notice it’s high-pitched call but its main distinguishing feature is of course its long tail which wags up and down as it walks around, thus, the wagtail!

Little Grebe
小鸊鷉

If you want to look really clever, this is the bird to know. While everyone by the lake is pointing out the “ducks” to their kids, you can clarify that the birds on the lake, which dive down every 30 seconds or so to catch fish, are not ducks but grebes. Very common on Qujiang Lake and other such bodies of water, this bird is also one for impressing your friends by your knowledge of two Chinese characters that no Chinese person recognises!

White-cheeked Starling
灰椋鸟

Moving away from the water, one of the most common birds in parks, and also most probably inside your residential area is the white-cheeked starling. Mostly grey and black but with orange beaks and legs you’ll see small flocks of them moving around together looking for insects, and then before sunset gathering in the trees where they chatter away before roosting.

Melodious Laughingthrush
画眉鸟

Also common everywhere around the city is the “hwamei”, as it’s sometimes referred to in English but always referred to in Chinese, as the “huamei niao”. This brown bird has a bright white ring around its eyes and a stripe going to the back of its head, making it easily recognisable. Usually hopping around in ones or twos you will also see this bird in your backyard. Its song is loud and sharp, listen out for it in the late afternoons too as it competes to be the loudest of all residents.

Light-vented Bulbul
白头鹎

The third of the common garden birds you will see is this species of bulbul. To the untrained eye the starling, laughingthrush and bulbul can look fairly similar, but the light-vented bulbul has a lot more white on the cap of its head, as per its Chinese name, and its breast. Again, congregating in flocks, this bird is unmissable in Xi’an.

Eurasian Hoopoe
戴胜

Moving out of the city a bit, this bird is common around the countryside of Shaanxi province and a sometime visitor to the city in parks and on university campuses too. This bird is bright orange and black, with an unmistakeable crest on its head and is a stunning bird to see. The hoopoe is the national bird of Israel, was considered sacred in Ancient Egypt, and the King of the Birds in Ancient Greece, and even makes an appearance in the Quran and the Bible!

Red-billed Blue Magpie
红嘴蓝鹊

Lastly, and perhaps even more impressive than the hoopoe, this magpie is also common in the less peopled green areas of Xi’an, in parks around the outskirts of the city. But, whereas the pied magpie is plain black and white, and the azure-winged magpie is a shiny grey, this bird has an extremely long, bright blue tail, shiny white forehead and bright red legs and beak.

So there you have it, let us know if you have seen any more birds which should be added to this list!

John McGovern is a long-term Xi’an resident and manager at Young Pioneer Tours travel agency. Find out information by emailing john@youngpioneertours.com