Over the past 30 years, the number of bird species in the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, Shandong province, has doubled, increasing from 187 to the current 373 species.

Researchers discovered rare bird species such as the Mute Swan and the Black-faced Spoonbill living and breeding in the reserve this year.

The migratory bird habitat at the Yellow River estuary in Dongying as part of the Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China (Phase II), was listed as a World Natural Heritage site in July during the 46th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in New Delhi.