Back to Jiuzhaigoou Tour Index
Back to Sichuan Trip Index
Jiuzhaigou Valley National Park is situated in the Minshan Mountains, 400 kilometers from downtown Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Jiuzhaigou is famous for its rolling mountains,
dense forests, colorful lakes, steep waterfalls, and wide variety of birds and animals.
The varied habitats and wide altitudinal range make for a highly diverse and biologically important fauna. There are 170 vertebrate species, ten animals and two fish. This includes 27 state-protected rare and endangered species like the giant panda, golden monkey, gnue, white-lip deer, black-neck crane, swan, lovebirds, red-belly golden pheasant, leopards, forest musk deer, and others.
223 species of bird have been recorded in Jiuzhai Valley National Park. These include the lesser kestrel, Chinese grouse, Sichuan Jay, snowy creek laughing thrush, rufus-headed robin and a sub species of Tengmalm’s owl.
The famous are:
Giant Panda (about 17-25 pandas living Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve).
Sichuan Golden Monkey.
And also:
Rhesus Macaque, Asian Wild Dog, Red Panda, Asiatic Black Bear, Brown Bear,
Yellow Throated Marten, Siberian Weasel, Gray Wolf, Leopard Cat, Asian
Golden Cat, Large Indian Civet, Himalayan Palm Civet, Pallas’s Cat, Eurasian
Lynx, Chinese Forest Musk Deer, Alpine Must Deer, Sika Deer, Tufted Deer,
Chinese Goral, Serow, Blue Sheep, Boar, Hog Badger, Hedgehog, Himalayan
Marmot, Pére David's Rock Squirrel, Duke of Bedford’s Vole.
The famous birds are:
Swans, the swans in Jiuzhai Valley are migrating birds that fly north
in spring and settle in the south in winter. They inhabit the lakesides and
swamps of Jiuzhai Valley and feed on aquatic animals as well as shells, fish
and shrimps. Swans of Jiuzhai Valley are mostly large-sized and cygnets.
Lovebirds, Endemic to China, they are small in size with flowery
feathers and reddish brown beak and yellow-white rings around its brown
eyes. They tend to inhabit quiet places, such as the lake surface or in
secluded tree holes. The male and female always stay together, hence the
name “lovebirds”.
Green-tailed Pheasants, A rare pheasant species, it inhabits alpine
meadow shrubs or among rocks, at an altitude between 3000 to 4000 meters. As
it feeds on fritillary corms, it is called the “fritillary cock”. And,
because it sometimes secretly approaches the farmhouse or hunter's tent to
eat their charcoal, it is also called the “charcoal cock”.
Red-Bellied Golden Pheasant, Endemic to China, it has large crown
feathers dropping down to its neck. The neck feathers cover its shoulders,
the colour of which changes from golden yellow to rusty red with
emerald-green spots. In the heat, it erects its neck feathers into something
like a fan. This pheasant can often be seen in Jiuzhai Valley.
Blue Eared Pheasant, Blue and grey, it has crimson cheeks, with white
feathers around the ear and the upper neck almost like the facial makeup
that has been likened to that of Beijing opera! It also has a marvellous
pair of lucent feathers dropping down from the neck. Endemic to China, it is
a precious fowl equally precious as the giant panda and golden monkey
The Mallard Duck, Commonly seen around Jiuzhai Valley, the mallard is
a common dabbling duck which breeds throughout North America, Europe and
Asia. A migratory bird of most wetlands, including parks, ponds and rivers,
it nests usually on a river bank, but not always near water. It is a
particularly noisey species forming large flocks. The male has a dark green
head and white neck-loop. The females are light brown. It breeds in the
north of China and migrates through the winter in southwest Tibet, central
and southern China.
The other birds are:
Chinese Pond-Herron, Little Egret, Whooper Swan, Ruddy Shelduck, Mallard,
Common Merganser, Black Kite, Common Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Northern
Harrier, Eurasian Hobby, Merlin, Lesser Kestrel, Chinese Hazel Grouse, Snow
Partridge, Tibetan Snowcock, Pheasant Grouse, Blood Pheasant, Temminick’s
Tragopan, Chinese Monal Pheasant, White Eared Pheasant, Blue Eared Pheasant,
Yellow-necked Koklass Pheasant, Common Pheasant, Golden Pheasant,
Black-winged Stilt, Snow Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Indian Cuckoo, Eurasian
Cuckoo, Lesser Cuckoo, Asian Koel, Tengalm’s Owl, Fork-tailed Swift,
Black-capped Kingfisher, Eurasian Hoopoe, Speckled Piculet, Black
Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Three-toed Woodpecker, Hume’s
Short-toed Lark, White Wagtail, Orienfnl Tree Pipit, Rosy Pipit, Long-tailed
Minivet, Grey-backed Shrike, Eurasian Jay, Red-billed Blue Magpie,
Large-billed Crow, Collared Crow, White-throated Dipper, Brown Dipper, Wren,
Rufous-breasted Accentor, Rufous-headed Robin, Blackthroated Robin, Indian
Blue Robin, Orange-flanked Bush Robin, Blue-fronted Redstart, White-throated
Redstart, Daurian Redstart, Plumbeous Water Redstart, White-capped Water
Redstart, Little Forktail, Black-backed Forktail, Blue Whistling Thrush,
Grey-headed Thrush, Kessler’s Thrush, Sukatschev’s Laughing Thrush, Barred
Laughing Thrush, Elliot’s Laughing Thrush, White-collared Yuhina, Spectacled
Parrotbill, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Brownish-flanked Bush War, Spotted
Bush Warbler, Tickell’s Leaf Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Greenish
Warbler, Blyth’s Leaf Warbler, Sichuan Leaf-warbler, Golden-spectacled
Warbler, Crested Tit Warbler, Goldcrest, White-gorgetted Jungle Flycatc,
Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Ferruginous Flycatcher,
Grey-headed Canary-flycat, Long-tailed Tit, Sooty Tit, Great Tit,
Green-backed Tit, Coal Tit, Rufous-vented Tit, Grey-crested Tit,
Rusty-breasted Tit, Eurasion Nuthatch, Eurasian Tree-Creeper, Bar-tailed
Tree-Creeper, Dark-rumped Rosefinch, Vinaceous Rosefinch, White-browed
Rosefinch, Three-banded Rosefinch, Common Rosefinch, Grey-headed Bullfinch,
Spot-winged Grosbeak, Black-faced Bunting, Rock Bunting, Little Bunting
Songpan Naked Carp (Fish):
Without scales, it is small in size and grows and matures slowly. This
alpine cold-water fish feeds on various kinds of food. The Songpan naked
carp is a lucky species regarded by the local people as the aquatic eidolon.
It is a wonder that, only this naked carp, of all other fish, survives in
Jiuzhai Valley.
All above will be subjected to our
confirmation |