Birds of Taiwan

Maybe the joke was a bit too subtle: the bird known as the Malayan Night Heron is also sometimes called the Malayan Bittern.

Gorsachius melanolophus, (previously classified as Nycticorax melanolophus) Synonyms in English: Malayan Night-heron, Malaysian Night Heron, Malaysian Night Bittern, Malayan Bittern, Tiger Bittern

[quote=ā€œurodacusā€]Maybe the joke was a bit too subtle: the bird known as the Malayan Night Heron is also sometimes called the Malayan Bittern.

Gorsachius melanolophus, (previously classified as Nycticorax melanolophus) Synonyms in English: Malayan Night-heron, Malaysian Night Heron, Malaysian Night Bittern, Malayan Bittern, Tiger Bittern[/quote]

I got it. It just wasnā€™t that, er, funny. You should have said it bittern you in Jiji. :laughing:

who said jokes had to be funny?

Sheesh! the sheer GALL of some people.

Up in the hills on sunday and had a Little Forktail hopping around us - pretty cutesy. No camera, so hereā€™s a library pic.

http://www.birdingintaiwan.com/littleforktail.htm

I have a Formosan whistling thrush that comes to our patio at 11am every day to steal the catā€™s food. Even when me, the dog and the cat are there. Right up close. Google it. What a beautiful bird. Six feet away. I love where I live.

Nice bird then. I feel a Birds of Taiwan book might be in the offing.

Interesting, I just had one pop onto the awing of the apartment behind me this morning (about 4m from my balcony). Never seen one back there till today. Usually itā€™s magpies or drongos. Drove the cats wild. I thought they were going to take a leap at it across the chasm. :laughing:

[quote=ā€œNuitā€]Nice bird then. I feel a Birds of Taiwan book might be in the offing.
[/quote]

Actually a Birds of Taiwan is being worked on by Helm Field Guides. This is due out some time next year, I have very high expectations for it. In the the meantime, there are plenty of decent books currently available.

And where on the Internet might we be able to find them?

Yellow Bittern
xobrychus sinensis

The neighbouring yellow bittern came to our garden for the first time today!
Deep excitement in the Nuit household, which needs a better camera.

[quote]The Yellow Bittern is a small (36 cm) heron with a rufous brown neck and back, a black cap and heavy buff streaking against whitish underparts. The tail and flight feathers are black, the latter being very conspicuous on the flying bird. The bill is greenish-brown, sharp, and slightly longer than the head. The iris is yellow and the pupil round rather than bar-shaped as in the similar Cinnamon Bittern. The bare skin around the eye is greenish yellow, as are the legs.

The Yellow Bittern is secretive and solitary, and is most active at dawn and dusk. It prefers freshwater marshes, riverside shrubs, swamps, rice paddies and flooded fields. It feeds on a variety of aquatic insects, small fish, frogs, crustaceans and molluscs. Its nest is usually built less than 1 m above the water or mud, and consists of a light platform of grass and leaves. The female usually lays 4 eggs, and the young hatch in about 22 days.

The Yellow Bittern is a common resident of Taiwan at low elevations.[/quote]

I love how those Malayan night herons (黑冠éŗ»é·ŗ) strut while twisting their neck from side to side. Have no idea why they do it, but it looks hilarious.

Not sure if this bird photographer has mentioned before here, he has amazing birdie pics:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnfish/

The bittern continued to feed in our garden all through dusk. Pulling long worms from the ground and chomping them down (at least 4).
All hail ye, yellow bittern, cute water bird.

Any takers to identify this one?
Seen on Green Island.

Wow!

Upupa epops, a.k.a. Hoopoe (ęˆ“å‹). Itā€™s a migratory bird, very common in Kimmen. Didnā€™t know they have those in Green Island. Itā€™s a mascot of Kimmen, and national bird of Israel.

Many thanks for the Id, not seen one before. Guess it was transiting through or wintering in Green Island then.
We hung out for about 5 mins together on the east coast part of the main road. It hopped around & wasnā€™t at all shy.

I fixed up an old coffee shop in the mountains in Bei-Pu. It is right on the river and a bird watching paradise. It has big glass windows all around. Today I was startled by two loud bangs on the glass. Closer inspection yielded two dead Taiwan Barbets. These are really pretty birds, and I was sad to bury them. But then I noticed a 3rd one, dazed and confused, and I guess it hit the glass as well. After a while it took off. I am interested as to their behavior, do they live in groups / families, and what can I do to keep this from happening? Any ideas would be appreciated.

The one time Iā€™ve had a good long look at them, it was a decent-sized group (a dozen or so?) that were sticking together, so I guess living in groups is typical for them.

But sorry, I donā€™t know how you can keep the impacts from happening. Theyā€™re certainly lovely birds.

Maybe you can hang shiny objects inside and outside the window, just so that the birds know somethingā€™s there. If CDs are too tacky, maybe crystal wind chimes? Also, is the place private or are you starting a business? If the latter, how do I get there