Power company installs cameras to monitor endangered Oriental stork nests in E China's Jiangxi

An electric power company has taken proactive measures to protect Oriental storks, an endangered bird species under first-class national protection in China, by installing surveillance cameras near the birds' nests on electricity pylons in east China's Jiangxi Province.

An electrician from State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China, installs a surveillance camera near a nest of endangered Oriental storks atop an electricity pylon in Jinxian county, Nanchang city, Jiangxi Province. (Photo/Fu Jie)

State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China, carried out the initiative after staff members recently discovered nests of migratory birds atop pylons carrying 500-kilovolt power lines in Jinxian county, Nanchang city.

"The cameras will provide researchers with a continuous feed of the conditions inside the nests, allowing them to study the habits and breeding patterns of Oriental storks," said Yang Shun, an employee at the ultrahigh voltage branch of State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd.'s power transmission line operation and maintenance center.

Oriental storks, an endangered bird species under first-class national protection in China, settle in an artificial nest built on an electricity pylon by State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China in east China's Jiangxi Province.  (Photo/Fu Jie)

"We are exploring ways to ensure power facilities and birds can coexist harmoniously," said Peng Fuxian, director of the center.

By collaborating with ecological research and protection institutions, the company has maximized the use of electricity poles and pylons to install online bird observation devices, which not only monitor and protect the breeding of Oriental storks but also facilitate joint efforts to study and track the activities and migration of rare bird populations near power transmission lines.

Oriental storks, an endangered bird species under first-class national protection in China, settle in an artificial nest built on an electricity pylon by State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China in east China's Jiangxi Province.  (Photo/Fu Jie)

Oriental storks, an endangered bird species under first-class national protection in China, settle in an artificial nest built on an electricity pylon by State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China in east China's Jiangxi Province.  (Photo/Fu Jie)

An electrician from State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China, installs a surveillance camera near a nest of endangered Oriental storks atop an electricity pylon in Jinxian county, Nanchang city, Jiangxi Province.  (Photo/Fu Jie)

Oriental storks, an endangered bird species under first-class national protection in China, settle in an artificial nest built on an electricity pylon by State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China in east China's Jiangxi Province.  (Photo/Fu Jie)