Go birding in Taiwan

Many birders know I haven't seen Spoon-billed Sandpiper before . They interest why I can find it so quickly I told them , many years ago when I just started birding , I have an experience At that time , there have so many shorebird in a fish farm The fish farm nearly dry , there have a great number of Rufous-necked Sandpiper & Dunlin , a number of Little Ringed Plover & Kentish Plover , some Long-toed Stint & Temminck's Stint , a few Pacific Golden Plover , few Little Stint We notice one shorebird seems some different , look like smaller Sanderling , the body size almost same as Rufous-necked Sandpipe , but ... we still feeling strange We tried to use a Spotting Scope to watching it , but the strange smaller Sanderling is too far away to difficult identified it We tried to remember most detail about this strange smaller Sanderling , and ask some excellent birder for help Next day , some birder go watch it , and one send me message say : t...

So proud of these children In this Sep , I told an info to my friends She is a teacher teaching art to children I say maybe you can let those kids join the 2017 Knots Drawing Competition After a few days, she told me some of the children she teaches and asked her, if they win the prize but can not go to Korea to accept the award , how can they to do She patiently told those children that she will help them find a solution tonight , she send this to me and told me , she has 2 students win the prize Very happy these children can win the prize Soon, I will host an event Take these children and their parents visit wetland to birding Let them enjoy bird watching Let them enjoy birding , love bird , love the environment, protect the earth https://www.facebook.com/notes/huang-naomi/%E7%82%BA%E4%BA%86%E5%96%AE%E7%AD%92%E5%92%8C%E9%9B%99%E7%AD%92%E6%9C%9B%E9%81%A0%E9%8F%A1/10155326068836775/

Black-chinned Fruit-Dove didn't face a major threat in the world , only distributed in the Philippines and Taiwan (are difficult to be found) . Records in Taiwan have been quite rare. If there were any resident populations in Taiwan, the number of ethnic groups should also be quite small Their body color is very similar to forest background , if they didn't sound or call , it is not easy to be found. Activities alone in the canopy. So far, there is not much understanding of t heir living habits. Dispute The Black-chinned Fruit-Dove's population on Taiwan's island has always been an unsolved problem Gibbs et al. (2001) and Dickinson (2003) consider this species has four subspecies, P. l. Taiwanus is only found on the island of Taiwan and is sub-endemic to Taiwan . ( their reason is : although the records is very rare in recent decades, but it shows included male, female & sub adult in different recorded ) But the other scholars believe that the individua...

Alien species in Taiwan Green iguana Green iguana (scientific name: Iguana iguana), also known as large iguana living in the tree , head to tail length can be more than 1.5 meters, a record shows that some adult individuals up to close up to 2 meters, weight 9kg. Field life can be as long more than 10 years, hatching (young ) seems to be omnivorous partial plant-based, occasionally add some slow action snails, slugs and part of the Lepidoptera larvae, and in the adult change to the leaves, Flowers, fruits for food . Female can produce 24-45 eggs(depend on the body size). Mainly distribution from Central America to Mexico to Paraguay, South America, the Caribbean and Florida and other places The main habitat of the green iguana is those forest adjacent rivers when the green iguana faces the dangerous or natural enemies, they will immediately jump into the stream, dive into the water and walk away to escape the enemy. Mature male green iguana, in the breeding period, the body color...

The Asian dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus) is a rare medium-large wader. Near Threatened Limnodromus semipalmatus has a disjunct breeding range in the steppe regions that extend from west to east Siberia, Russia, and south into Mongolia and Heilongjiang in north-east China It has been recorded as a non-breeding ,winters from E India through SE Asia, SE Sumatra and Java to N & E Australia. This species is migratory but its movements are not well known . The timing and location of breeding varies considerably depending on water levels, most females lay between late-May and early-June.  Birds arrive in the wintering grounds in September , returning usually in April Non-breeding During the non-breeding season it occurs in sheltered coastal environments, primarily estuarine and intertidal mudflats, lagoons, creeks and saltworks It will also roost on sandy beaches or in shallow lagoons during this season Human modified landscape features such as salt-pans have also been ...

Ghost Month in Taiwan The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, Zhongyuan Festival or Yulan Festival (traditional Chinese: 盂蘭節) is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in Asian countries. According to the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China). In Chinese culture, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Double Ninth Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, during Ghost Festival, the deceased are believed to visit the living.  ...... The above description is cited from Wikipedia If you are interested in learning more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...

Taipei third safest city in the world wow !! a good reason visit Taiwan https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3148256 If you lost your wallet on the streets of Taiwan What will happened ? Look at a street experiment from youtuber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m4EKxAtM_E

Highland red-bellied swallowtail butterfly ( Atrophaneura horishana ) Atrophaneura horishana, which is a unique alpine butterfly species in Taiwan ( endemic ), is distributed in the central mountain range of about 1,500 to 2,500 meters sea level. It is named after the well-known insect scholar Matsumura Matsumura in 1910. A generation . Larvae eat the Taiwan Aristolochicus (Aristolochia shimadai) and Ryukyu Aristolochia (A. liukiuensis). Other same genus butterflies (Atrophaneura) are distributed in the tropics, more generation a year. Unlike the general swallowtail butterfly to pupae in the form of dormant winter, Atrophaneura horishana eggs and larvae evolved a special resistance cold mechanism, to survive below zero degrees Celsius environment. Because of habitat destruction and illegal capture (in 1960 to 1970 butterfly processing industry booming era, Atrophaneura horishana was the hot objects for those professional collections people) caused by the number of plu...

Besra (Accipiter virgatus) Because Besra & Crested Goshawk are looked very similar , therefore many birders feel confused for them , Besra bodysize is smaller & thinner Besra in Taiwan is uncommon resident , compared to the Crested Goshawk, Besra whereabouts are more secret, and less in the metropolitan area. Low altitude trees for the habitat, natural forests and plantations(few case) can adapt. Most of the time to suspend in the forest secret place. When they fly ,they usually not fly high , in the forest short flight change position, Small birds as the master food, accounting for more than 80 percent of the biomass. Other non-master foods include lizards, rats, cicada, bats and so on. They most hunted birds usually are the local birds (Dominant species) , in the Yangmingshan are Taiwan Barbet, and Taipei Wugu area is barn swallow. Some records show when dusk they will hunting low-flying bats. 3 to 4 eggs per nest , eggs rounded. Spawning in May. Ovary about...

Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus) Most of the time in the forest, they flight only when the weather is warm, flight time is not long, each flight is usually shorter than 10 minutes. The male often declare in their field and to reveal the obvious white tail cover feathers Low altitude forest is habitat, in natural forest, plantation, orchard or campus can be adapt , even to the coastal forest can also see them . It's the only one raptor can breeding in urban area in Taiw an In Mar to Apr spawning, 2 eggs per nest , about 38 days to hatched , at first by the female feeding chicks, male hunting out side , with the nestling growing up female will join the hunting for bring more food . The chicks leave the nest at about 44 days of age between May and June Hunting a variety of small animals they can catch , including rodents, squirrels, small birds, lizards, frogs . There are many cases into which poultry houses, pigeons, and into balconies caught pet birds. For de...

Swimming in the train?  Taipei turns metro car into pool for Universiade 2017 (CNN) —  Don't be alarmed if fellow passengers start stripping off aboard a metro train in Taipei. Chances are they think they've found a swimming pool inside the carriage. To celebrate being the host city of the upcoming Universiade 2017 -- the Olympics for international university athletes -- the Taiwanese capital has transformed a six-car train into six different sports venues -- a running track, a soccer pitch, a baseball field, a basketball pitch, a field for throwing sports and a swimming pool. http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/taipei-metro-universiade-3d-swimming-pool/index.html

Malayan Night Heron （Gorsachius melanolophus） From the English name " Malayan Night Heron " we can surmise they are mainly distributed in Malaysia and the Indo-China peninsula, but now those areas are not easy to see ( seems very diffcult ) In Taiwan, there are few fixed groups in central and southern hill area. Twenty or three years ago, the Malayan Night Heron in Taiwan, the amount of rare groups, in the bird guide book is belong "rare resident" level . And their activiti es almost under forest in the hill , is not easy to observe. But We do not know why, more than a decade, the Malayan Night Heron's population gradually to the north expansion, and seems to have begun to adapt to the city environment, so in the major campuses, botanical gardens, parks and other urban green places are also more common. The original rare birds, now is the major birds on the lawn of the parks. Breeding period of 3 to 9 months, during the courtship  male will be sta...

Savanna Nightjar (Caprimulgus affinis) Rare resident become common I heard a dozen years ago, quite rare, to a specific area have the opportunity to see  The original habitat in the plains and rivers around, in recent years more and more individuals , are very adapted to the roof of the building in the town habitat and breeding, When the evening began they start to foraging, late night will change the way to wait for beetles, moths fly near than eaten them .The researcher guess the use of urban night light to foraging.

Taiwan barbet (Psilopogon nuchalis) The Chinese name for the bird means "five-colored bird" ( traditional Chinese: 五色鳥; pinyin: wuseniao), referring to the five colors on its plumage. According to the results of their study in Taipei Botanical Garden Their breeding season is from March to August Within the range of 8.2 hectares of the Taipei Botanical Garden, 12 trees have nest holes. The task seems to be entirely by the male. Each monkey about 3 to 4 eggs, eggs slightly oval, white no spots. Male and female in rotation hatching. Only an average of 58.2% of the time during the day there are birds hatched eggs, male hatchery more time than the female, but the female will stay in the hole Eggs hatching rate of 53.5%, chicks 13 to 15 days hatched. After the chicks hatch by the birds stub responsible for brooding, young chicks need about 23 to 29 days away from the nest

Embrace the World with You 29th Summer Universiade 2017, Taipei, Chinese Taipei Taiwan welcome you if you like this , you can   Download it    ↓ ↓ ↓  https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3158064

Bioluminescent mushrooms . Continuous for several days the rain finally stopped Quite forward to can introduce a kind of mushrooms to you This mushroom will only appear at summer night after the several days rain Of all the wild and wonderful things to find in the wilderness, bioluminescent mushrooms are one of by far the most charming . It's said the fairy play the sparkles sticks in the forest when they left they lose & forget the sparkles sticks in the forest then the sparkles sticks become this mushroom . Bioluminescence in mushrooms is often assumed to play roles in spore dispersal and increased survival. Even though scientists can explain the phenomenon in many cases, encountering the brilliantly-lit bioluminescent mushrooms in real life is still a peculiar experience, The next time you step out in the woods at night, leave your flashlight home–if you look closely enough, you may find yourself face-to-face with one of these fascinating bioluminescent mu...

Taiwanosemia hoppoensis Taiwanese endemic species Breeding season May to August Eyes are red (in Taiwan only Taiwanosemia hoppoensis 's eyes are red) Male cicada is about 31 to 34 mm (1.2 to 1.3 inches) and female cicada is about 20 to 23 mm (0.79 to 0.91 inch) Male preferences in the evening close to the dark start chirping, and chirping time is short, this feature may also be the only one in the world . In 1907 by the Japanese scholar Dr Matsumura found Dr Matsumura also set up a new genus for it " Taiwanosemia " it is meaning Taiwan's cicadas It's also the only one cicadas named Taiwan in the world With several Japanese researchers after returning to Japan After 1945, due to the lack of basic researchers and with the rapid development of the western plains Had a history of up to 65 years without any recode about Taiwanosemia hoppoensis Japanese cicada research scholars once thought that the Taiwanosemia hoppoensis were extinct in Taiwan Unti...

Such an interesting study Himalayan black bulbuls (Hypsipetes leucocephalus niggerimus) exhibit sexual dichromatism under ultraviolet light that is invisible to the human eye https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5382547/ can you ID the following which one is male which one is female ?

Omura's whale ( Balaenoptera omurai )  very rare record Rare live video record at Taiwan Hualien  So amazing !!!! video  👇 👇 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAoeIoyuErA . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omura%27s_whale

Their Future is Our Future

Vanishing skills Handmade Chicken feathers duster Zhonglu Chen 73 years old , and he is the last one man who can handmade chicken feathers duster in Taiwan He start do chicken feathers duster when he was 50 years ago , he said this skill ( Chicken feathers duster ) is his father learns from tramp Although vacuum cleaner is very popular now , and no one is used chicken feathers duster . But he still do chicken feathers duster , because he want protect this skill until that day he can't do the chicken feathers duster

The discovery process of Taiwan Hill-partridge ( Arborophila crudigularis ) ---- The following by Robert Swinhoe ---- Tamsuy, Formosa, April 30th 1864. About the middle of the month, four Partridges were brought to me from the interior mountains, alive, consisting of three males and one female. They uttered a chuckle very like that of the Guinea-hen (Numidu). I tried my best to induce them to live ; but they knocked themselves about, and one after the other succumbed. Besides their peculiar red unspurred legs, thick black bill, and very short tail, the most striking peculiarity was in their all having an ugly raw-looking red patch on the throat. I thought it curious that aEl the birds should be so injured, if the peculiarity arose from an injury; but, on examining them closely, I found that the bare throat was natural. I have been puzzling myself as to what genus to assign them, but I know of no group of Partridges to which they can be well referred. They are not Arboric...

Dabajian Mountain Biological survey This time , I go to Dabajian Mountain with a University research team , to assist them do the birds survey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabajian_Mountain Photo album https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=264592280681258&id=189354358205051