On January 3, 2026, Huai'an City officially released the Huai'an Wild Bird List 2.0 (2025). The list records a total of 305 wild bird species across 63 families and 19 orders in Huai'an, marking an increase of 21 new bird species compared to the records of the 2024 edition. This achievement signifies a prominent advancement in Huai'an's research and conservation of bird biodiversity.

Huai'an is located in the Qinling-Huaihe Line, a transitional zone of climatic contrasts between northern and southern China. With its numerous rivers and lakes and vast wetlands, it has been a natural paradise for birds to inhabit and breed since ancient times. In the newly released Huai'an Wild Bird List 2.0 (2025), protected species account for a high proportion, and rare bird observation records are frequently found. In terms of species order composition, the Passeriformes is by far the most diverse order of birds, accounting for 44.59% of all bird species; the Charadriiformes follows closely behind, accounting for 14.75%. Among other bird orders, only one species of the order Procellariiformes has been recorded, as a result of the discovery of the vagrant streaked shearwaters, and only one species has been recorded in each of the orders Bucerotiformes, Suliformes, and Caprimulgiformes. According to statistics, Huai'an currently has 65 national key protected bird species, including 11 first-class national protected species, such as Baer's pochards, Siberian cranes, and oriental white storks, and 54 species of second-class national protected species, such as whooper swans, mandarin ducks, and fairy pittas. In addition, 35 species are included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, among which the critically endangered yellow-breasted bunting and Siberian crane are particularly noteworthy. These data clearly demonstrate that Huai'an has become an important "service area" and wintering ground for many rare migratory birds along their migration route.