Pandas and birds in Chengdu, China

This video from China says about itself:

The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, Sichuan has been created to imitate the natural habitat for Giant Panda and other rare species rearing and breeding. Its stated goal is to “be a world-class research facility, conservation education center, and international educational tourism destination.” In the video in addition to the Giant Pandas you can see also the so called Red Panda. Recorded October 2015 in 4K (Ultra HD) with Sony AX100. Edited with Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

As I wrote, on 31 March 2018 we arrived at Chengdu airport in Sichuan province in China. That day in Chengdu, we went to the local panda reserve.

The giant pandas were climbing trees.

Sometimes, upside down.

At the panda reserve, one cannot only see mammals, but also wild birds.

Recently, a wallcreeper was seen there for the first time.

On a roof near the entrance, a grey-capped greenfinch.

There was also this light-vented bulbul.

Spotted doves like this one were plentiful.

We saw an oriental magpie-robin as well.

A bit further, another grey-capped greenfinch, among fallen leaves.

And a white-browed laughingthrush; a frequent species in the reserve.

On the footpath, this red-billed leiothrix. This bird is also called Japanese nightingale in English. In Dutch, besides Japanese nightingale, it is also called Chinese nightingale: more appropriate, as it is native to China, not to Japan.

Hans Christian Andersen‘s fairy tale The Nightingale is considered by Wikipedia to be about the common nightingale. However, that bird does not live in China, where the story is set. In China, the not closely related ‘Chinese nightingale’, the red-billed leiothrix, lives. So, it is a better bird to associate with the fairy tale; though I don’t know to what extent Andersen was aware of this ornithological issue.