Jumping spiders in species leap
Hong Kong Standard
Wednesday, August 01, 2007

http://images4.fotop.net/albums4/yau312/skbird/IMG_4244.jpg
Source : http://www.fotop.net/yau312

Hong Kong's ecosystem is just great - if you have eight legs and eight eyes and look scary.

Conservation consultant Chim Shui-tai said yesterday he was surprised to discover the number of known species of jumping spiders - or golden silk spiders - in Hong Kong had jumped from 35 at the start of the millennium to 77.

And, he said, there could be even more of these creepy-crawlies, actually jumpers, mainly because they like Hong Kong's ecosystem. Chim spent the past two years poking around the New Territories and, to his astonishment, discovered there were more than double the previously known species.

"That's a lot more than I expected," Chim said. "The 77 species is 19 percent of all the species found in China, or 1.4 percent of the known species in the world. I estimate there may be more to be found, maybe 80 to 100 types."

Chim said the abundance is comparable to the types of dragonflies and butterflies found in Hong Kong, and proves that the local ecosystem is suitable for jumping spiders.

"However, the environment must be native and natural," Chim said. "Artificial gardens do not attract jumping spiders because most of the plants in these artificial gardens are not native to Hong Kong and do not attract the local insects, which are the food source of the spiders."

According to Chim, four factors make up the perfect environment for jumping spiders. They live in areas with sunshine, as they rely on the light to see their prey. They also require areas with tree shade to hide and rest, as well as areas with bushes and natural streams, which attract other insects, their food.

Although jumping spiders can be found all around Hong Kong, there are a few hot spots where they can be naturally found in abundance, such as Hang Hau in Tseung Kwan O, Luk Keng in Sha Tau Kok, and Long Kwu Tan.

Chim said jumping spiders only grow up to two centimeters in length.

They also blend well with the environment. An example is the ant-like jumper, which is black, shaped like an ant, and raises its front feet, so they look like the feelers of an ant. It is the most commonly found jumper in Hong Kong's countryside.

There are also two other species worth knowing - the black-furred adanson's house jumper usually found in urban homes, and the brown fighting spider, which in China in the 1970s were made to fight it out to the death.

What is the eagle to do with the spiders?

I'm going to turn this thread into a showcase for Hong Kong's biodiversity, which would include eagles :)

It's hard to find pictures of creepy spiders close-up from my sources.

What is the eagle to do with the spiders?

Ealge's Dim Sum? :lol:

Shrinking habitats peril to wildlife
Hong Kong Standard
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Conservationists and animal welfare groups have expressed serious concern at the increasing casualty rate among Hong Kong's wildlife as developers encroach into rural habitats.

Last year about 10 percent of all animals rescued by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were wildlife caught in railings, run over by cars or trapped in water catchment areas.

SPCA deputy director Fiona Woodhouse said yesterday man-made structures pose a variety of safety hazards to wild animals which are not familiar with the urban setting.

She said last year the SPCA rescued 129 wild animals - about 10 percent of its total rescues for the year. In the first quarter of this year, a further 20 wild animals were rescued.

"There are several habitats in the city such as on The Peak, Wan Chai Gap and Bowen Road. But there has been a gradual delineation of the boundary between the city and the countryside that could see animals like civet cats or porcupines losing their way," she said.

Most of the animals rescued last year were birds - 108 last year and 13 so far this year - while the others included bats, porcupines, lizards, civet cats and wild boar.

Last year the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department collected 9,900 dead birds across the territory.

Hong Kong Bird Watching Society chairman Cheung Ho-fai said birds are being pushed out of their natural environment due to the shrinking number of fields and farmland in the New Territories.

"Much of the farmland has been sold to developers for building luxury apartments over the past few years, such as in the Fan Ling area," Cheung said.

Skyscrapers also pose a hazard to many bird species, Cheung said.

Most accidents happen when the birds bump into the glass walls of high- rise buildings. The impact could be fatal as some birds can fly at speeds ranging from 50 to 100 kilometers an hour.

"Glass walls are transparent and sometimes reflect light, making birds believe it is something they can fly across," Cheung said.

On May 4 a black kite, which was found injured in a busy district in Sham Shui Po, is believed to have hit the glass wall of a tall building.

SPCA chief superintendent Tony Ho Tse-tong said the organization often came across birds that appeared to have lost all sense of direction. He said it was possible they may have flown into skyscrapers and needed a few days to adjust.

Many items discarded by visitors in the countryside can also be a threat to the wildlife.

"It is common to see birds being tangled by kite lines or injured by fishing hooks. Such birds are lucky if someone calls us, but others are just left to die of hunger or become the meals of other animals," Ho said.

The global distribution of the biodiversity of vascular plants:

http://staffwww.fullcoll.edu/tmorris/elements_of_ecology/images/biodiversity_map_large.jpg

500th bird species spotted in Hong Kong
23 April 2010
SCMP

Birdwatchers are hailing the arrival of the 500th species of birds to be seen in Hong Kong, expanding the city's bird list to cover about a third of the species for the whole of China.

Bird lovers are also celebrating a steady rise in the species of wild birds seen in the city, at a level of four to five every year.

The 500th species to be seen locally, the red-throated thrush, spotted in November, has a grey upper body. A male bird has a red throat while female and juvenile birds have streaked underparts.

The thrush was among four new species of birds first spotted in the city last year, with three of them found on Po Toi Island.

The other three are a common cuckoo, which comes from as far as Africa, a great stone curlew, from Southeast Asia, and Hodgson's redstart, from the Tibetan plateau or Himalayas. The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society said it was likely the birds had strayed while migrating.

The news will further cheer local birdwatchers after a census on the endangered black-faced spoonbill early this month showed a 15 per cent increase this year in the worldwide population to a record high of 2,346. A fifth of its world population wintered in Hong Kong this year.

Some 462 of the birds have been spotted in the city, a rise of 40 per cent compared with last year, and the biggest increase among all places reporting an upward trend.

A delighted Geoff Carey, chairman of the record committee of the society which maintains the bird list, said: "Hong Kong is obviously a very, very small part of China but we have about a third of the [number of] bird [species] recorded in the whole of China.

"It is an indication of how exciting a place Hong Kong is for birdwatchers," Carey said.

Po Toi was a good place for birds because being out to sea, it served as a resting point for migrating birds flying along the coast, Carey said.

On average, four to five new-spotted bird species to Hong Kong have been added to the list each year in the past 20 years. Among 52 additions since 1998, about five species now breed and colonise in Hong Kong.

Yu Yat-tung, a member of the record committee, said the bird list was expanding because 40 per cent of Hong Kong's land is country parks and rapid urbanisation in Shenzhen had driven some birds to nest in the Hong Kong area for a better habitat.

Asked if the expanding bird list was linked to Hong Kong getting warmer and therefore a better wintering place for migrant birds, Carey said: "Global warming is a very complicated process which is not very well understood so far. There are many factors involved. It could be the climate, it could also be the habitat, but there is no proof."

He dismissed concerns that more new birds would disrupt the local ecology. "If they are here and they breed, that means there is a niche for them."