BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is recruiting bird lovers across the city to volunteer for an upcoming scientific survey of mandarin ducks.

Volunteer surveyors will observe and record the birds through smartphone apps once a week from December to February next year, according to a Friday release from the center, which is administered by the Beijing municipal forestry department.

The survey aims to determine the population and distribution of the species in urban Beijing, the center said.

The water birds, native to East Asia, have exquisite coloring. The male duck has a reddish face and purple breast, with white, orange and emerald green feathers. The female is less colorful, with a gray head, brown back and white stripes around its eyes.

Mandarin ducks on the water have often been used as a symbol of love in traditional Chinese poems and artworks, and now they can also be spotted in Beijing parks during the winter.

People are now eager to photograph the ducks as the brightly colored water birds are rarely seen during northern China's winter months.

The arrival of more ducks may be a good sign, but staff at the center are anxious to predict the population, saying more data is needed. Enditem

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