Decoding the animals at Longmen Grottoes

Updated: 2015-12-25

People's love for animals is not limited to those in statues and carvings of the Longmen. A wallcreeper, also known as "butterfly bird" in Chinese comes to spend the winter here every year and receives warm welcome by birdwatchers. It got widely reported from the media too.

The bird has extraordinary crimson wings and looks exactly like a butterfly when spread the wings. It is mainly present in the west part of the country and could hardly be seen in central China. With a long beak, the bird catches insects hibernating at cracks of rocks.

A wallcreeper stays on a rock in Longmen Grottoes. [Photo / Longmen Grottoes on WeChat]

"Where does it come from? Where will it be in next spring? We may never know the answers, but it is enough for my heart to see this old friend, every year," reacted a bird-watcher after watching the wallcreeper around the Longmen.