GUANGZHOU, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-eight spoon-billed sandpipers, known officially as Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, a critically endangered bird species, had been spotted and in south China's Guangdong Province, local authorities said Monday.

These small waders were discovered on the coastal mudflat of Zhanjiang City during a global survey carried out between Jan. 17-19 on the winter activities of spoon-billed sandpipers and black-faced spoonbills, according to an announcement made by the provincial department of forestry.

The survey recorded a total of 48 spoon-billed sandpipers in China. The species was classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.