Poyang Lake in east China's Jiangxi province — a major winter destination for birds in Asia such as the Hooded Crane — is drying up due to low rainfall, affecting the availability of plankton, fish and waterweed that birds feed on.
"Since November last year, nearly 200,000 migratory birds have come for the winter," Zhao Jinsheng, head of the animal and plant protection department at the Poyang Nature Reserve, said. "Food is starting to be scarce and there is still some time before they leave in March, so we decided to use a helicopter to air-drop food, to help the birds last through winter."
The helicopter will air-drop millet, maize and shrimps on wetlands and on the surface of water areas, Zhao added.