A great number of birds are gathering on the banks of Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao City in east China's Shandong Province. It is estimated that there are 156 species of birds in the Dagu estuary wetland of Jiaozhou Bay, including six species of national first-class protected birds and 34 species of second-class protected birds.

Birds are indicative of biodiversity in Jiaozhou Bay. Hundreds of thousands of egrets, snipes, geese and ducks migrate and stop every year, and there are overwintering places for winter migratory birds and breeding grounds for summer migratory birds.

[ All photos via VCG.]