Banding Swan Spotted in Xinjiang

Banding Swan (C33)

A banding swan (banding number C33) was discovered in wetland of county Guertu, Wusu city, Xinjiang Autonomous Region on May 27th, 2009.
The local bird watch group traced that the swan was freed in north Mongolia in 2008 in an effort to map out its migration route and prevent bird-flu.
134 swans were banded and freed in Mongolia during the year 2007 and 2008 as part of the global bird-flu surveillance project, noted Ma Ming from the Xinjiang Institute of Geography and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). 49 of them were spotted in Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi province and also in Tianjing and Beijing. Swan C33 was the first one ever observed in Xinjiang, also the far west.
Although hundreds of swans inhabit and breed in Bayinbuluke's wetland, Xinjiang, the migration route of swan remains a mystery. Somehow, C33 provide researchers some clues this time.
Swan C33 was first spotted on November 8, 2008 near Sanmenxia, Sichuan province, then Hengshang in Shanxi province to the west on March 1, 2009. Ma Ming said that the bird traveled from east to the west, and was not going back to northern Mongolia most likely because the swan was still a junior and liked wandering before finding its mate.