Birding In Taiwan - Birding Tours

Taiwan is a mountainous island in the South China Sea, about 175 km (110 mi.) off the Chinese mainland. The forested beauty of the island led Portuguese sailors in 1590 to call it Ilha Formosa, meaning “Beautiful Island.” The Tropic of Cancer passes through the southern part of the island.

Wednesday, March 18 – Friday, March 20; Days 1– 2 Taoyuan to Changhua

Check-in for our EVA Airways direct flight to Taipei began at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 18. Jim Fliczuk of Victoria and I, both members of British Columbia Field Ornithologists, would meet former BCFO member Simon Liao in Taiwan. Our flight departed Vancouver International Airport at 1:55 a.m., Mar. 19; after supper, the cabin lights dimmed, and everyone went to sleep.

When we awoke, it was Saturday, March 20. We landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5:35 a.m., shortly after breakfast. After arrival formalities, we were met by Simon, and were on our way. The temperature in Taipei was a comfortable 20°C.

We headed south toward Changhua city, about 2½ hours from the airport. A little beyond Changhua was a wetland called Hambao (‘Hamburger’, for reasons unknown). We did some easy birding from the car: Black-winged Stilt, Little Ringed Plover; Common, Green, Marsh, Wood, Sharp-tailed, and Curlew Sandpipers, and Common Greenshank. After lunch, we visited the Matsu Temple, dedicated to Matsu, Goddess of the Sea, in Lugang, and relaxed with a coffee. Next, we visited Changhua’s Owl Art Gallery, before proceeding to the raptor-viewing station atop Bagua Mountain (a high, wooded hill) on the outskirt of Changhua city. The volunteer hawk-watchers scrutinized the skies for passing raptors, especially Gray-faced Buzzard, Butastur indicus. The previous day, 567 raptors had passed over the station. On this day, 440 had been tallied, for a season total of 4,014 so far.

Leaving the hill, we returned to the city and our hotel. We had supper with an old friend, Wu Ten-di, a former president of the Changhua Wild Bird Society. Ten-di and a small delegation from the CHWBS had attended the 2004 BCFO Conference in Tumbler Ridge.

The first day of the tour was fairly easy, with 40 bird species seen.

Saturday, March 21; Day 3 Changhua to Huisun

We left the hotel at 8 a.m. to attend the Opening Ceremonies of the Bagua Mountain Bird Fair as invited guests of the Changhua Wild Bird Society. The annual Fair has been held on the 3^rd weekend of March since inception in 1991, hosted by the CHWBS, partner of the British Columbia Field Ornithologists. The Fair is the biggest event of the CHWBS’s year, and celebrates the spring passage of the Gray-faced Buzzard. Thousands of these raptors follow the contour of Bagua Mountain (Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area) on their annual journey from their wintering areas in southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines, back to their breeding sites in Japan, northeast China, Korea and the Russian Far East. The dates of the Bird Fair coincide with the peak of the migration period. After the formalities, we returned to the hawk watch station for a while. There were Black-browed [Taiwan] Barbets in a nearby tree, our first endemic species, already accepted as such by Sibley and Monroe but not yet by Clements’ Checklist of Birds of the World. There were many more raptors overhead, including Crested Serpent-Eagle and Crested Goshawk. After lunch, we departed and headed inland and up, to Huisun Forest Reserve.

Huisun is a combination of a forest recreation area, and Forest Research Station of the Department of Forestry of National Chung Hsing University. (In Taiwan, ‘forestry’ refers to preservation of the forests for study, enjoyment and soil retention, not exploitation of them for profit.) A pair of Maroon Orioles nest near the park entrance, and after some effort, we found two. The Taiwan endemic subspecies, Oriolus traillii ardens, is red, not maroon. After supper, we tried owling and had a brief glimpse of a Mountain Scops-Owl. Other owl species were silent, so we went to our rooms in the Atayal complex, at 770 m (2530 ft.) elevation.

Sunday, March 22; Day 4 Huisun to Chingjing

Birding began at 6 a.m. The Atayal area was very quiet, so we drove down a few hundred metres to the 3-storey Research and Education Center, Huisun Forest Station, Experimental Forest building. In the large open grassy area opposite the building, a Malayan Night-Heron s-l-o-w-l-y searched for breakfast. Our own search for Formosan Magpie paid off, with 30 of these big, vivid blue birds flying back and forth.

We could hear Taiwan Partridge’s loud guru, guru, guru… calls of two birds, in a rising crescendo, coming from the forested hillside immediately behind the research building, so we went to investigate. We had scant hope of seeing one however, because these 28 cm-long birds are among the most secretive and wary birds in Taiwan. We were very surprised to see a male Taiwan Partridge suddenly rocket from the forested hillside, fly straight toward the research building, strike a 2^nd-floor window with a loud BANG, bounce off the glass and alight about 10 m up in a large tree. It spent several minutes in full view on the tree branch, then flew down to a log for another several minutes before walking back into the forest.

From a thicket, a Dusky Fulvetta called, then came out into the open, providing a good view. The dark gray and brown fulvetta is another secretive species, seldom showing itself as this one did. Simon and Jim went to the small coffee shop just as one of the forest workers (who had passed us a few minutes before, heading for work) came speeding back on his motorcycle, saying that a pair of Swinhoe’s Pheasants was feeding on the lawn in another part of the park. Still holding his coffee, Jim climbed on to the back of the motorcycle, and off they went, arriving at the spot in time to see both the male and female pheasants still peacefully feeding. After several more minutes, other park visitors came along, and the pheasants retreated into the forest.

Having been successful with the species we expected—and more—we headed down to the coffee display centre where we could watch for more birds (including a female Maroon Oriole) while having breakfast of locally-grown, organic coffee and thick slices of toast.

As we had now seen both Taiwan Partridge and Swinhoe’s Pheasant, Simon changed the itinerary, deleting Kwanghua where we expected to find both species, and add Dasyueshan National Forest Recreation Area, near the end of the tour.

We left Huisun Forest Reserve and started for Puli city. On the way, we stopped at what appeared to be just a scrubby, weedy field, but soon a Golden-headed Cisticola appeared and began to sing. Then Simon noticed a Crested Myna, Acridotheres cristatellus formosanus, an endemic subspecies, perched on an electric wire above the field. The wire extended to a small building where a second Crested Myna perched. It was good to find these birds. Crested Myna has decreased significantly since the introduction several years ago of other mynas, especially the aggressive Javan Myna, A. javanicus which will attack Crested Mynas; Jungle Myna, A. fuscus, and Common Myna, A. tristis. The Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute now lists Crested Myna as ‘Rare’ and a ‘Protected Species.’ We continued on into Puli.

After lunch, we continued east and up, to Chingjing, a farming area, elevation 1750 m (5740 ft.). The temperature was 12°C. Market gardens surrounded our hotel. We walked the lanes, finding Vinous-throated Parrotbill, White-tailed Robin, Steere’s Liocichla, and winter visitors Black-faced Bunting, Eye-browed Thrush and Dusky Warbler. Supper was served at our comfortable hotel, called Chingjing Resort.

Monday, March 23; Day 5 Chingjing to Tienhsiang

On a pre-breakfast walk beside the fields below the hotel, we found Bamboo Partridge, Dusky Warbler, Brownish-flanked Bush-Warbler, Yellow-bellied Bush-Warbler, Striated Prinia, Pale Thrush, Eye-browed Thrush, and surprisingly, a Collared Finchbill, which is usually found below 1500 m. After breakfast, we continued to climb on Highway 14, making a stop at the trailhead of Blue Gate Trail #1 where we found Rusty Laughingthrush, Spot-breasted Scimitar-Babbler, and Taiwan Yuhina. A brief walk on the trail itself gave us Steere’s Liocichla, Taiwan Barwing, Yellow [Taiwan] Tit, White-eared Sibia, White-browed Shortwing, Rufous-faced Warbler, Rufous-capped Babbler, White-tailed Robin, Gray-cheeked Fulvetta, Black-throated and Green-backed Tits, Eurasian Nuthatch, and Fire-breasted Flowerpecker.

We returned to the highway and continued to drive up to the western gate of Toroko National Park and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area. At Wuling (“Big Wind”) elev. 3,275 m (10,750 ft.), the highest point of the cross-island highway, there was no wind, and fog was too dense to see anything, so we continued on. A short distance down the east side of the crest, we found a male Collared Bush-Robin. We heard, but couldn’t see a Taiwan Bush-Warbler. Farther down, at Dayuling (elev. 2465 m), we found Coal Tit (the endemic crested subspecies, Periparus ater ptilosus) and glimpsed a Silver-backed Needletail overhead. At Cihen, we found the trees below the road full of small birds—more flowerpeckers, sibias, tits, Gray-chinned Minivets, Vivid Niltavas, plus Large-billed Crows overhead.

In the late afternoon, we arrived at Tienhsiang, elev. 485 m (1592 ft.), and our spacious, quiet hotel, the Tienhsiang Youth Hostel on the edge of the forest, which is not restricted to ‘youth’!

Tuesday, March 24; Day 6 Tienhsiang to Taitung

After breakfast, we went to the Liwu River and did the 1.9 km “Tunnel of the 9 Turns” walk. The gorge is deep and narrow at that point; the scenery spectacular! We found a Little Forktail, 3 Formosan Whistling-Thrushes, and 3 Brown Dippers—2 juveniles being fed by an adult. We also found 2 Fork-tailed Swifts among the House swifts. We exited the park at the East Gate and headed south.

Along the east coast, the mountains rise near the sea. This coast is what the Portuguese seamen were looking at in 1590 when they exclaimed “Beautiful island!” The seasonal winds from the northeast blew strongly. Along this side of the island, Styan’s Bulbuls were plentiful. We also saw many introduced Javan and Common Mynas. At this time of year, in fields along this coast, the endemic subspecies of Ring-necked Pheasant is often seen and/or heard. In addition to the pheasant, we saw several Oriental Skylarks and a Chinese Pond Heron.

We stopped at Shin Kong Chao Feng Ranch & Resort, which has extensive property of mixed habitats. Sometimes, a Black-naped Oriole can be seen, but we could not find any that day. We did see Yellow Wagtail and Long-tailed Shrike.

As we approached Taitung, we stopped to look at the shore rock formations called Shiaoyeliou (“Little Yeliou”) before going on to our accommodation, Golden Hill Village B & B, in Fukang, a suburb of Taitung city.

Wednesday, March 25; Day 7 Taitung to Kenting

The wind was still blowing at 6:30 a.m. when we went out for pre-breakfast birding around the B & B. In spite of the unsettled weather, threatening grey sky and wind-blown vegetation, we saw Striated Prinia, [Taiwan] Hwamei and Brown Shrike. After breakfast, we drove to Taitung Airport for our flight to Lanyu Island. Unfortunately, Lanyu’s weather was worse, their small airport was closed, and our flight cancelled. So, we had to abandon our plans for Lanyu and in drizzling rain, drove south to Kenting, a day ahead of the original schedule. In Hengshun town (the setting of the very popular Taiwanese film, “Cape No. 7”) and Kenting, the weather was much better but still windy. We drove around lake Long Luan Tan, to the Long Luan Tan Nature Center in Kenting National Park. From there, we saw Little Grebe, Gray Heron; egrets, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Common Moorhen, and Eurasian Coot. Supper was at a fish restaurant in the Kenting Night Market.

Thursday, March 26; Day 8 Kenting to Tainan

We drove north to Chiku (Cigu), to the Black-faced Spoonbill viewing station. Although most of the wintering flock of almost 800 birds had departed, we saw 224 still there. Also present were Gray Heron, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit, Lesser Sandplover, Snowy, Little-ringed, Pacific and Black-bellied Plovers, Caspian and Little Tern.

After a seafood lunch, we went to Sihcao Reserve (not usually open to the public, but opened for us by special arrangement), where we found another Collared Finchbill, 200 more Black-faced Spoonbills, more Eurasian Curlews, Lesser and Greater Sandplover, godwits, Pacific Golden and Black-bellied Plover and Black-winged Stilt, Spotted Redshank; Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Great Knot, Dunlin and more Little Terns.

In the late afternoon, we drove into Tainan city, the oldest city in Taiwan and its first capital. For a historical change-of-pace, we walked to the near-by Chihkan Tower, the site of Fort Proventia, built by the Dutch in 1653. The wooden towers are still in fine shape. Another short walk took us to the very popular Tu Hsiao Yueh noodle shop, which has been in operation for 114 years. Our traditional supper was delicious. We finished the evening at the huge Tainan Night Market.

Friday, March 27; Day 9 Tainan to Changhua

After breakfast, we left the city and birded along the dyke and wetlands of the Yanshuei River. We found more grebes, herons, a small Schrenk’s Bittern (a rare transient in Taiwan), Yellow and Cinnamon Bitterns, Garganey, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, over 100 Black-winged Stilt, Common and Marsh Sandpiper, Gray-capped Woodpecker and a pair of White-cheeked Starlings carrying nesting materials into a hole in a hydro pole. White-cheeked Starling is usually only a winter visitor, but apparently this pair decided to stay.

We started north toward Changhua via the Kwantien Reserve, but stopped at a wetland beside the highway where another 9 Black-faced Spoonbills were feeding. A scan of the area located 20 Pied Avocets (usually present in winter, if at all), and a Sacred Ibis (introduced species) plus other wetland species.

At the Kwantien Reserve, we found that periodic maintenance was in progress, with the ponds drained and dykes reconstructed. Re-flooding and re-planting of water chestnut had just begun. However, we saw eleven Pheasant-tailed Jacanas that had moved to water chestnut ponds on a nearby farm.

In the late afternoon, we returned to Changhua and Bagua Mountain where the volunteer raptor counters were still at work. We saw one Gray-faced Buzzard and two Crested Serpent-Eagles. The volunteers were concerned because the numbers of raptors for the season were about half of normal. Why?

Saturday, March 28; Day 10 Changhua to Dasyueshan

We left Changhua after breakfast and birded our way up to Dasyueshan (“Big Snow Mountain”) National Forest Recreation Area, with several stops along the way. One stop produced Streak-breasted and Spot-breasted Scimitar-Babblers. At the km 23.5 viewing deck, the big Idesia polycarpa tree still had some red fruit, which attracted a female Island Thrush (a very scarce and elusive species), Vivid Niltava, Bronzed Drongo, Yellow [Taiwan] Tit and White-eared Sibia. At the Dasyueshan Visitor Center, km 43, elevation 2275 m (7465 ft.), the “Misty Forest” temperature was 15°C. After lunch we drove higher, to Shiaosyueshan, 2600 m (8,530 ft.). Even though conditions were quite foggy, we saw Collared Bush-Robin, White-browed Bush-Robin, Eurasian Nutcracker and many White-whiskered Laughingthrushes. On the way back down to the Visitor Center area, we saw a male Mikado Pheasant and a male Vinaceous Rosefinch along the road edge.

After supper, we went for a drive to look for night creatures. We saw a Formosan Weasel, Mustela sibirica taivana and three White-faced Flying Squirrels, Petaurista alborufus lena, both endemic subspecies. We also heard (but didn’t see) Reeves’s Muntjac, Cervus unicolor swinhoei, an endemic subspecies of small “barking deer.”

Sunday, March 29; Day 11 Dasyueshan NFRA

The morning sky was overcast, with occasional drizzle. The temperature was 11°C. After breakfast, we returned to Shiaosyueshan; this time, we saw 3 Mikado Pheasants by the road, 1 male and 2 females. There was more bird activity lower down, along the road between the park office building and the Visitor Center than higher up; Flamecrest, Taiwan Barwing, Varied Tit, White-browed Shortwing, White-tailed Robin and Pygmy Wren-Babbler. Around the accommodation buildings were Eurasian Nuthatch, Eurasian Jay, Green-backed Tit and Taiwan Yuhina. A Moltrecht’s Green Tree Frog called from a rain gutter beside one of the buildings. A Red-bellied Squirrel scuttled about in the leaves; a Formosan Striped Squirrel climbed a tree.

We had an early supper and prepared to depart in the morning.

Monday, March 30; Day 12 Dasyueshan to Taipei

The weather was still cool; 10°C at the Visitor Center. We descended to the vicinity of the park entrance and walked Trail 210, elev. 2000m (6,561 ft.) again, in better weather. There were more White-eared Sibia, Steere’s Liocichla, Taiwan Barwing, Taiwan Yuhina, Black-throated Tit, Eurasian Nuthatch, Vivid Niltava, White-tailed Robin, and a Snowy-browed Flycatcher, a thicket species, foraged low.

We left Dasyueshan and returned to Taipei.

Tuesday, March 31; Day 13 Taipei

We drove to northeast Taipei County, to Yeliou Geopark, a cape jutting into the East China Sea, because there had been reports of some interesting migrant species occurring there. For ordinary visitors, the main attraction of the Geopark is the hundreds of odd rock formations, eroded by wind and sea.

Birders walk past all that, and keep going almost 2 km from the parking area, to the wooded cape that acts as a migrant trap. Specialties of the day were (1) Japanese Paradise-Flycatcher, Terpsiphone atrocaudata atrocaudata. The species breeds in Japan, Korea, Taiwan (including Lanyu Island, where T. a. periopthalmica, is considered resident) and the extreme northern Philippines. The main wintering areas are Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia; (2) Two male Yellow-throated Buntings, Emberiza elegans (also called Elegant Bunting). Breeding distribution includes southern Russian Far East, Korea, and parts of China. Wintering areas include Japan, southeast China, Taiwan (rare) to Myanmar (Burma). Besides those two species, we found Daurian Redstart, Red-flanked Bluetail, Brown-eared Bulbul (Ixos amaurotis amaurotis), a Japanese subspecies; and Pale Thrush.

After lunch, we left the geopark, passing a fishing boat harbour over which flew Black Kite and Osprey. We returned to Taipei.

Wednesday, April 1; Day 14_ Taipei to Vancouver

This was a cultural day. First stop in the morning was Shilin Gardens, once part of the private estate of Chiang Kai-Shek, but now open to the public. There, we added the last trip bird to our list, Japanese Bush-Warbler. From the gardens, we went to the National Palace Museum, which ranks as one of the four best museums in the world, in a class with the Louvre, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum holds the world's largest collection of Chinese artefacts, around 700,000 items in all. As the museum only has space to display around 15,000 pieces at any given time, the majority of the treasures are kept well protected in air-conditioned vaults deep in the mountainside. The displays are rotated every three months, which means 60,000 pieces can be viewed in a year and it would take nearly 12 years to see them all. The collection continues to grow through donations and purchases.

We rode on Taipei’s efficient MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) system before supper and an event at National Taiwan University. When that concluded, Jim went by taxi to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for the homeward flight, arriving in Vancouver the same day. (I stayed on in Taipei for a few more days.)

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Fourteen of the 15 endemic species (The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World) were seen; one, Taiwan Bush-Warbler, was heard only.

The total bird species for the tour was 164.