5,000 artificial nests built on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in past 7 years

(ECNS) -- A total of 5,018 artificial nests and 16 landing racks for eagles have been installed in the Sanjiangyuan area in northwest China's Qinghai since 2016.

Observation data shows that these artificial installations have attracted 2,300 nesting birds and that the number of upland buzzards, golden eagles, saker falcons, and other birds of prey have seen obvious growth.

Large birds like to live high in order to prey and electric towers have become their first option. But living on electric towers are dangerous and can damage power transmission routes.

To solve this problem, the State Grid decided to share the electric towers with birds in the Sanjiangyuan area. It set up safe artificial bird nests on towers and installed independent landing racks for eagles. Meanwhile, the company has technically transformed towers in areas where large birds of prey frequently travel to avoid electric shocks.

Data shows that each artificial nest can reduce 52 pikas or rodents in the grassland around the habitat of birds of prey in their breeding period.

They can inhibit the populations of pika, thus reducing the damage to grassland vegetation and soil and maintaining the ecological balance in the Sanjiangyuan area.

Located in the hinterland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Sanjiangyuan is an important area of biodiversity distribution in high-altitude areas across the world.

It is listed as one of the 25 key biodiversity conservation areas in the world by World Wildlife Fund.

Known as "the paradise for birds", it is the habitat of more than 300 kinds of rare birds like the bar-headed goose and 20 kinds of raptors like golden eagles and saker falcons.