A brown-breasted bulbul. [Photo provided to the official news website of Zhoushan]

Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province recorded four new bird species in May: spotted flycatcher, short-tailed shearwater, orange-bellied leafbird, and brown-breasted bulbul.

May is a key migration and breeding period for birds, making it one of the most important birdwatching seasons of the year. Among the new records, the spotted flycatcher and orange-bellied leafbird are particularly notable, with the former recorded for the second time in Zhejiang and the latter observed for the first time in the province's island areas.

The spotted flycatcher was documented on May 13 in Dinghai district by an experienced local birdwatcher, while the short-tailed shearwater was spotted on May 15 in waters near Qushan Island.

On May 31, monitoring volunteer Zhou Jingqi at the Wuzhishan Islands Provincial Bird Nature Reserve confirmed a female orange-bellied leafbird captured by an infrared camera. This species, usually found in southern and southwestern China, has rarely been recorded on islands in Zhejiang, making the sighting significant for research on bird dispersal patterns.

On the same day, a brown-breasted bulbul was also identified during field surveys on Dawuzhi Island. The species is widely distributed across river basins and coastal regions of China and is known for its distinctive call and bright yellow rump.