The growing interest in birdwatching in Shanghai is playing an active role in raising public awareness of environmental issues and the protection of biodiversity. Some made discoveries of scientific importance. A few weeks ago, a group of birders found a rare woodpecker in suburban Shanghai's Chenshan Botanical Garden.

The rufous-bellied woodpecker was found in the sequoia woods by the bird-watchers equipped with binoculars and tele-zoom cameras. The migratory bird, traveling from southeastern China where it spent wintertime, was probably on its way back home in northeastern Heilongjiang province to mate. It is one of 72 registered bird species at the botanical garden.