Except for swallows, pigeons and sparrows, I haven’t seen other birds in Taiwan (not including the zoo, OK?). Have you espied any other species in the wild?
Chinese bulbuls (my rooftop in central Taibei) Herons (Danshui River), eagles (Keelung harbour), blackfaced spoonbills (Qigu Xiang in Tainan County). For various twittering birds whose names I do not know, try Daan Forest Park or National Taiwan University Campus.
Plenty more birds out in the countryside.
I am puzzled by the total absence of seagulls from Taibei - unlike my native city of London. Nor have I ever seen any kind of crow here, whereas they abound in Tokyo.
[quote=“Juba”]Herons (Danshui River), eagles (Keelung (Jilong) harbour), blackfaced spoonbills (somewhere near Tainan). For various twittering birds whose names I do not know, try Da’an Forest Park or National Taiwan University Campus.
Plenty more birds out in the countryside.
I am puzzled by the total absence of seagulls from Taibei - unlike my native city of London. Nor have I ever seen any kind of crow here, whereas they abound in Tokyo.[/quote]
You’ll see crows and eagles up here in Alishan. Also other birds as well.
Go to Yangmingshan to see the magnificent Formosan Magpie, my favorite bird in Taiwan. I see herons and egrets and cranes in Muzha down by the river all the time.
The botanical gardens in Taipei are known world-wide as one of the best places to see the rare Malaysian Night Heron.
Also you might want to do a google search. Taiwan is definitely on the international bird-watching circuit.
You can buy the book Bookwatching in Taipei at Taipei 101’s Page One.
I
the magpies are down by the river in san chong as well
taiwan is heaven for bird watching. a lot of migratorary (sp?) birds ‘stopover’ in taiwan.
get the book mucha man suggested above, its a beauty
Taiwan has the second hgihest number of bird species per square kilometer in the world. Number one is Madagascar.
Chinese bulbuls are everywhere, city and country. In the lowlands and mid-hills there are lots of fish-eating Little Egrets near rivers. Eagles are quite common in the rural lowlands. You don’t have to go far to see more unusual species - just find a quite rural spot, sit tight, and keep your eyes open.
This thread is misleading.
It is about observing actual birds.
I have observed many species of ‘actual’ birds in urban and rural areas of Taichung.
I often see Japanese white eyes, black-crowned night herons, Himalayan tree pies, drongos, Chinese bulbuls, Japanese wagtails, and egrets. Those are the most common round where I live.
Exciting thread! OK I can add: Chinese grosbeak, woodpeckers, magpie robin, collared bush robin, shrikes, yuhinas, kingfisher, red-flanked blue-tail… I could go on but I’ll spare you.
There are a loads of different small hedge and woodland birds out there, but most of the time you will need binoculars to identify them. That and be enough of a geek to actually spend hours out there looking.
As has been mentioned, there are some nice birds that easily can be seen in cities - bulbuls, Japanese white eyes etc.
Night herons, on the other hand, give me the creeps… hunchbacked silhouettes that just stand around, staring ominously. Sent from the dark side I swear.
Thousands of these beautiful birds (Japanese White-Eye) in the tree-tops out my window, and when the trees are covered in flowers, as they sometimes are, the birds have an orgy in the pollen of the blossoms:
If your apartment faces into trees you’ll know what a beautiful, brilliant, emerald green they can be.
Here’s info on other birds of Taiwan:
birdingintaiwan.com/birdsintwn.htm
I don’t know how many of you say this 2 weeks ago on the news but according to vice president Lu
"Bird watching is how you catch bird flu!’
I swear to god she gave an interveiw and advised people that to be safe avoid bird watching, as this is the main way to catch avain flu.
[quote=“shifty”]I don’t know how many of you say this 2 weeks ago on the news but according to vice president Lu
"Bird watching is how you catch bird flu!’
I swear to god she gave an interveiw and advised people that to be safe avoid bird watching, as this is the main way to catch avain flu.
[/quote]
Was that also when she said that men are to blame for all the troubles in the world? Well, at least from that statement we know one rumor is probably not true: that is, Lu is a man.
[quote=“shifty”]I don’t know how many of you say this 2 weeks ago on the news but according to vice president Lu
"Bird watching is how you catch bird flu!’
I swear to god she gave an interveiw and advised people that to be safe avoid bird watching, as this is the main way to catch avain flu.
[/quote]
Then we should all stay far far away from her cause she’s the biggest loon around.
In the mountains of Neihu, we came across the rare and beautiful Muller’s Barbet, which the Chinese call the “Five-Color Bird” (wu se niao).
We’ve also seen hawks soaring near the mountaintops, and egrets near lakes.
Egrets, herons and other such birds are extremely common wading in the muddy rivers of Taipei. On a bike ride by the river one is sure to see many of them.
In the mountains of Neihu, we came across the rare and beautiful Muller’s Barbet, which the Chinese call the “Five-Color Bird” (wu se niao).
[/quote]
Man that is so cool you saw one of them! They have similar similar colourings to my fave Australian bird - the Noisy Pitta. The Australian aboriginals called them the Devil Devil bird, or the rainbow coloured bird.
