Birdwatching in Taiwan

A Day in Taiwan

Terry Wright

St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A.

Dustin Wang and I just concluded a day (April 30, 2011) of birding in Yilan.   It was an exceptional experience for me!   I would like to thank the International Taiwan Birding Association for promoting birding in Taiwan.  And, my thanks go out to Jo Ann MacKenzie for coordinating my visit and for her excellent communications.   She made it very easy for me to connect with a great guide in Taiwan!

My deepest thanks go out to Dustin Wang for spending a very long day with me.   Dustin was very knowledgeable about the birds' locations, calls/songs, English names, and natural history.    And, he was patient with a much inferior birder.   At the end of the day, we had tallied some very good birds, including special birds:

Chinese Egret

Greater Painted-snipe

Ruddy-breasted Crake

Slaty-legged Crake

Cinnamon Bittern

Yellow Bittern

Long-toed Stint

Great Crested Tern

Black Naped Tern

Black-headed Munia

Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler

Formosan Magpie

and many, many others.

After such a productive day of birding, my thoughts can only be directed to a return trip in the near future.

Once again, please accept my thanks for your kind hospitality to a visiting birder. 

 Species Seen

Taiwan Trip list,  April 30, 2011

Terry Wright

DUCKS, GEESE, AND WATERFOWL

    Eastern Spot-billed Duck

GREBES

    Little Grebe

HERONS, EGRETS, AND  BITTERNS

    Yellow Bittern

    Cinnamon Bittern

    Gray Heron

    Great Egret

    Intermediate Egret

    Chinese Egret

    Little Egret

    Cattle Egret

    Black-crowned Night-Heron

OSPREY

    Osprey

RAILS, GALLINULES  AND COOTS

    Slaty-legged Crake

    White-breasted Waterhen

    Ruddy-breasted Crake

    Common Moorhen

PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS

    Little Ringed Plover

STILTS AND AVOCETS

    Black-winged Stilt

SANDPIPERS AND ALLIES

    Common Sandpiper

    Common Greenshank

    Wood Sandpiper

    Eurasian Curlew

    Long-toed Stint

    Common Snipe

PAINTED-SNIPES

    Greater Painted-snipe

TERNS

    Whiskered Tern

    Black-naped Tern

    Great Crested Tern

PIGEONS AND DOVES

    Rock Pigeon

    Eurasian Collared-Dove

    Red Collared-Dove

    Spotted Dove

    Emerald Dove

CUCKOOS

    Oriental Cuckoo

    Lesser Coucal

SHRIKES

    Brown Shrike

    Long-tailed Shrike

CROWS, JAYS, AND  MAGPIES

    FORMOSAN MAGPIE  (Endemic)

    Eurasian Magpie

    Large-billed Crow

MONARCH  FLYCATCHERS

    Black-naped Monarch

SWALLOWS

    Bank Swallow (Sand Martin)

    Barn Swallow

BULBULS

    Light-vented Bulbul

    Black Bulbul

CISTICOLAS AND ALLIES

    Yellow-bellied Prinia

    Plain Prinia

THRUSHES AND  ALLIES

    Brown-headed Thrush

BABBLERS

     TAIWAN SCIMITAR-BABBLER  (Endemic)

WHITE-EYES

    Japanese White-eye

PARROTBILLS

    Vinous-throated Parrotbill

DRONGOS

    Black Drongo

STARLINGS

    Common Myna

WAGTAILS AND PIPITS

    Eastern Yellow Wagtail

    Gray Wagtail

    Red-throated Pipit

OLD WORLD SPARROWS

    Eurasian Tree Sparrow

WAXBILLS AND ALLIES

    White-rumped Munia

    Black-headed Munia