The persistent drought in China's southwest is eroding the habitat of the Hume's Bar-tailed Pheasant, one of the world's endangered bird species.

In Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 45 percent of the vegetation in the nature reserve boasting the world's largest population of the pheasant, as known as Syrmaticus humiae, has deteriorated as the dry weather continues.

"More than 200 birds in our nature reserve are short of drinking water and food," said Lu Zhenyan, a senior researcher with the Jinzhongshan National Nature Reserve in Guangxi.

The rare bird species, which live on plant seeds, berries and insects, are only found in forested ravines in China, India, Burma and Thailand.

Their homes in southwest China's Guangxi and neighboring Yunnan Province have been threatened by the scorching weather that began last fall, Lu said.

"They usually mate between March and July. But some of the newborn chicks have died of thirst," she said, warning of a possible population decline in the future.