Yellow-breasted Bunting: Endangered

I took this photo of Yellow-breasted Bunting in 2002 at Mai Po, Hong Kong. Mai Po is part of one of Hong Kong’s two Important Bird Areas (IBA), viz. Inner Deep Bay and Shenzhen River Catchment (also a RAMSAR wetland).  This is an extremely important site for many migratory species and several highly threatened species, but I never imagined back then that Yellow-breasted Bunting would become one of the most threatened of the species there, as I learnt today when I read this article: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1365285/chinese-gourmands-drive-migratory-bird-endangered-list

Yellow-breasted Bunting seemed common back then and I recall seeing large flocks. This photo shows one in winter in the reedy habitat they prefer. This is an old slide and the scan quality is poor – sorry! To think of such a common bird having so rapidly descended into the IUCN “Endangered” category and all for a few “snacks” (i.e. human consumption) is extremely concerning – in fact, it reminds me of the story of the Passenger Pigeon and how we wiped out one of the most abundant bird species on earth in just a century or so. Such is our species…