The Economist recently published a fascinating article about birds and birders in China, complete with an account of the first Chinese Crested Terns ever to be banded.

This handsome tern is probably the rarest of its tribe, with a population currently numbering about three dozen individuals. Very little is known about this vanishing species, but one of the best chances to see it is in Taiwan, where some at least of the remaining terns winter alongside another global rarity, Black-faced Spoonbill.