I don’t think the 2 pheasant species are too hard to find, just put in early morning trail time on some of the higher forest roads.
I keep meaning to go down and see the Spoonbills. That’s down at Qigu, on the coast near Tainan.
Sounds like you did well to see the Jacana though, “Its numbers have decreased greatly due to drainage of wetlands, water pollution and pesticide use”.
Yes the pheasants are relatively easy to see, especially at Daxueshan where they appear on the forestry road at known places every morning and evening.
Yeah the Jacanas were nice, at the same locale we also saw a purple heron which was a bit of a treat, rare for Taiwan from what I’ve heard. In Guantian there is a Jacana preserve with a boardwalk where it is not too diffcult to see them, although right now they are in their winter plumage, it would be nice to see them in their summer plumage, much more spectacular birds.
Also, as far as the forestry roads in Daxueshan, any idea how I would find out more about that? My understanding is that the Mikado is relatively hard to see…
Also, as an aside, I was at the bird festival in Guandu this weekend and started talking to some folks that run an organic tea farm near xindian that are trying to organize people to help a bird survey during the next two weeks in order to help with an ongoing study on pest control provided by birds for tea farms. If anyone is intersted in helping out, , I should have more info soon, trying to help them out this weekend with the survey.
Yes, relatively. But drive up Forestry Road 200 and at km 23, 35 and 47 you are very likely to see pheasants at dawn and dusk. You’ll see plenty of others there as well, especially at 47km, where the mikado appear (but only one day out the two I was there). It looks like a military operation with all the long high powered lenses and guys under camouflage blinds. 
Always seeing huge groups of bird watchers with cameras positioned on one spot.
In Daan Park frequently and I always wonder why the interesting birds come to Daan park.
Looks like someone, maybe park management, drilled a hole to attract a certain type of bird or used other methods to introduce the bird.
Is the hole naturally made or man-made? Any ideas?
Most certainly a five color barbet, they hack their own holes.
What does Taiwan barbet sound like?
Bump. Any recommended blogs or sites or whatever where people post about the hot birding spots?
I regularly cycle by platoons of photographers, and I’m curious what they’re looking at.
There is the Kuandu Nature Reserve and there is another bird viewing area out in JinShan.
But, the best thing is to get to know birders who know the where, when and what of bird watching. Most birders I know are also serious photographers as well and post their pictures on their FB pages.
Here’s a guy that I currently follow. He takes amazing pictures.
King Fisher - very shy, but they are all around the many creeks
Crested Serpent Eagle - soaring in the sky all day
Hoopoe - rare. Got some near my house.
My recommendation is to make friends with birding enthusiasts and go with them because they know where the birds are!
Yeah. Some of these guys have USD $10,000 equipment which allows them to take stunning photos like these!
I save my favorites and put them as my background wallpaper on slide show mode for my computers .
Don’t forget to get a copy of this awesome book to help you in your quest to enjoy Taiwan’s wonderful ornithological treasures.
I’m a city boy, I know them all lol
Yeah, that’s sort of near where I saw a bunch of photographers lined up taking pictures of a bird yesterday: this was in front of the Shilin incinerator. I got off the bike and pulled out my binoculars and had a look as well. I wanted to ask what it was, but a) my Chinese sucks, and there’s no way I’d understand any more of the answer than “鳥”; and b) the photographers looked, appropriately I suppose, sort of twitchy! I’d parked my bike in the middle of a big gap between photographers, and I didn’t feel particularly welcome, especially when another photographer kept trying to position himself RIGHT beside me, vaguely scowling in my direction.
Perhaps I’d violated some decorum rule, whether by taking a space “everyone knew” belonged to this guy; or by wearing a bright yellow jacket that was appropriate for not getting killed while cycling, but inappropriate for stopping and looking at an easily spooked bird; or by using binoculars when this was obviously a spot dedicated for those with camera lenses that weigh as much as my bicycle. No idea.
I’m not so much looking for the birding spots, but more that, if I see a bunch of photographers, I want to be able to look online later and figure out what they were all watching. Once in a while “rare bird spotted in __” articles do make it to newspapers; I assume there are also blogs or Facebook groups where the birders let each other know with posts along the lines of “Hey, there was a rarely sighted _____ at the Shilin incinerator yesterday!”
My absurdly digitally zoomed iPhone picture:
I think it’s a black-winged kite. Cool
I think this photo of Muller’s Barbet is the “8 color” version. Most common is the “5 color” version. We have lots of the 5 color around my house so pretty familiar with them. Have seen the 8 color version at Liyu lake in Hualien.
Could well be. I had a much better look through binoculars than my iPhone could give me, but unfortunately I am inept at remembering details for identifying birds when I’ve got a book in hand later. I didn’t see it in flight at all, only roosting (perching?).
Another good resource: Merlin Bird ID app, on iOS, presumably other platforms, and also here. It can match - with mixed success rates! - audio recordings or photos with birds. You can download different bird packs within the app, including a Taiwan one.
I don’t particularly trust the AI, since depending on how I crop the photo above, right now it suggests it’s a gull-billed tern (definitely not); a few minutes ago it told me it was a night heron (definitely not); and earlier today, I think it suggested gull-billed tern or the black-winged kite. But I don’t think I noticed a red eye.
