Tainan Young Birder Blog

Posts

Rare in Taiwan, common in Malaysia

In this blog post I am going to talk about relatively common birds that I saw in Sarawak, but that are rare in Taiwan. There will be seven birds that I will share: the Brahminy Kite, White-breasted Woodswallow, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Western Hooded Pitta, Pied Triller, Scarlet Minivet, and the Collared Kingfisher. Brahminy Kite Four of the seven birds were seen in and around Kuching, and quite effortlessly. I will arrange the birds in the order of which I saw them, the first being the White-breasted Woodswallow. This bird is very unique looking, with a grayish head and back, a large beak, and a white breast. Woodswallows are quite interesting because, despite their name, they are not swallows, but rather part of a group related to Corvids aka crows and ravens. They belong in the family Artamidae, and are related to butcherbirds and the Australian Magpie. Its behavior is similar to flycatchers. They are insectivores, sallying bugs from the sky. We saw this bird right outside our

Malaysia Birding Trip (Sunbirds and Relatives)

In this blog post I will be sharing about a beautiful group of birds: sunbirds, spiderhunters, and flowerpeckers. Sunbirds and spiderhunters belong in the family Nectariniidae, which has 148 species, of which I saw six: the Long-billed Spiderhunter, Purple-naped Spiderhunter, Ornate Sunbird, Brown-throated Sunbird, Crimson Sunbird, and the Little Spiderhunter. Flowerpeckers belong in the Dicaeidae family, which has 53 species, but I only saw two though: the Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, and the Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker. Purple-naped Spiderhunter The Little and the Long-billed Spiderhunters are in the same genus, Arachnothera. Both are pretty dull-looking spiderhunters, with the Little Spiderhunter being the prettier of the two. It has a white breast, yellow underbelly, and white mustaches. It is not picky about its habitats, sometimes it can even be found in plantations and other disturbed habitats. It favors food similar to the hummingbirds of the Americas, taking nectar from durian,

Malaysia Birding Trip ( Trogons)

This blog post I will be sharing about Trogons, a family of birds we saw in Sarawak. Trogons are so special they are put in their own order, with Quetzals and other South American Trogons. Trogons are distantly related to woodpeckers, rollers, kingfishers and hornbills. Of the five species present in Borneo, we luckily saw three, all seen in Kubah National Park, of course with the help of Julianna. Female Scalet-rumped Trogon First I will talk about the Scarlet-rumped Trogon, which I saw on the first day in Kubah. All three of these trogons look similar, but this trogon doesn’t have a white band across its neck, and has a scarlet rump instead of a yellow one (hence the name). Is very adaptable to different habitats, from mangrove forests to dipterocarp forests. Mostly an insectivore, it will eat all sorts of bugs and beetles. This is a pretty common species in Borneo, but can be a bit difficult to observe. Usually its location is betrayed by its calls, and once spotted it is unmistaka

Malasia Birding Trip ( Cuckoos and relatives )

In this post I will share about cuckoos and their relatives, a type of bird I have been craving to see even back in Taiwan. In Sarawak, I saw five cuckoos, one of which I only heard. First, the Indian Cuckoo belongs in the Cuculus genus which has 11 members, while the Plaintive Cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo belong in the Cacomantis genus. Of the Malkohas that I saw, the Chestnut-breasted belongs to the Phaenicophaeus genus and the Raffles’s is genus Rhinortha, of which it is the sole member, and the Red-billed belongs in the Zanclostomus genus. The silhouette of a Indian Cuckoo The Indian Cuckoo is a pretty plain yet iconic cuckoo. It has a gray head, and a striped underbelly to confuse potential victims into thinking it’s a hawk. Cuckoos are infamous for practicing brood parasitism, laying eggs in other birds nests, mainly birds much smaller than cuckoos. Prinas, drongos, and other small passerines all fall victim. This bird is an insectivore, usually feeding on caterpillars, but sometime

Malaysia birding trip (Broadbills)

In the next few blog posts, I will be sharing about the experiences I had while in Sarawak, Malaysia. We visited Sarawak during the winter break, and spent two fulfilling weeks there. Sarawak is located in Borneo, where almost everything is lush green rainforests. During this visit, we managed to see 120 species, and made 20 checklists.Because we had never birded in Southeast Asia, we easily saw 88 lifers! We visited three national parks, Kubah, Bako, and Batang Ai. Because we were unfamiliar with the birds and Sarawak in general, Dad arranged for a two-day bird guide in Kubah, and in Bako and Batang Ai, we had a very high-quality tour agency, Borneo Adventures. Our bird guide, Julianna, was super experienced and highly professional. She would slow down, listen for a second, then immediately find the particular bird sound she was looking for, and play it, so the bird would reply. Julianna told us before we headed out, “no playing bird sound, no birds.” In this particular post I am

Kenting Raptor Migration

Crested Serpent-Eagle Every October, my family travels south to Kenting (in Pingtung) on the national Day of Taiwan. We visit for the purpose of seeing the breath-taking migration of raptors - thousands upon thousands - journeying to their wintering grounds. Because Taiwan is a key rest stop for birds, there are many places to observe this particular migration. A kettle of raptors Of all the migrating raptors, the Grey-faced Buzzard and the Chinese Sparrowhawk are the ones that are the most abundant. Hundreds of thousands pass through Taiwan every year. The Grey-faced Buzzard is a medium-sized raptor, with a mouse-gray face, a black-tipped beak, a very obvious throat streak, brownish wings, horizontal streaking in the underbody, and bright orange talons. The Chinese Sparrowhawk on the other hand is much smaller in size, has a blueish-gray back and head, and black-tipped wings. Adults lack a throat streak, whereas juveniles have one. Grey-faced Buzzard This year we had a slight cha

My American Birding Adverture, Conclusion

This is the last post of the American birding series. After a month in the states, I noticed some significant differences between Taiwan and America. Yellow-rumped Warbler The most noticeable difference of course was the totally different birds. Being in a whole other continent, the birds were almost all different with just a few exceptions. Another thing was the types of birds seen in America. There are a lot more woodpeckers in America than in Taiwan, more sparrows, and much prettier warblers than the dull green warblers present in Taiwan. On the other hand, Taiwan has a lot more waterbirds, a huge variety of buntings, dazzling Kingfishers, and many thrushes. California Towhee I also noticed some behavioral differences. For example, I noticed American birds aren’t as shy, and will let you get closer. There is also a bird feeding culture in the states, whereas that is frowned upon by birders in Taiwan. There are a couple reasons why that is the case. First off, the wi

My American Birding Adventure, Part 7

A juvenile Western Gull with something in its mouth ,possibly plastic On our way back to Camas, WA, the second stop was in Newport, OR. We have been there once before, which we enjoyed tremendously. We went to many of the same birding spots as last time. We saw many birds, old ones and new ones alike. Brown Pelicans and juvenile Heermann's Gulls The first place we visited was Devil's Punchbowl. While we were on the trail that overlooked the punchbowl, we saw a Black Oystercatcher. I think it is prettiest among all the shorebirds; a perfect black body, an interesting red beak, and a pair of yellowish eyes. We were a bit surprised when we saw the tidepools. The part closer to us was clean, but the part closer to the sea was filthy with seaweed. There was so much seaweed on top, we couldn’t even see the tidepools. After taking some pictures of the limited tidepools, I cautiously strayed into seaweed territory, and joined Dad, who had already started scanning the rocks for

My American Birding Adventure, Part 6

Our stop in Arcada, CA, was a brief two days. But we still managed to squeeze in a couple of birding excursions, and the one to Arcada Marsh was by far the most memorable. Wilson's Warbler That morning we got up early, full of ambition and excitement, and headed off to the marsh. The marsh was quite large, so we had plenty of foot trails to choose from. The path we decided on was the loop trail, which goes around the whole marsh. Our first stop was at a big body of water, where we saw a crown of Belted Kingfishers loudly chasing each other around. Dad noticed some things in the water which turned out to be river otters, occasionally seen in the area. They were simply adorable, diving into the water and emerging with a shrimp-like creature, happily munching on it. American Bittern Besides the cute mammals, we also saw plenty of birds, including Long-billed Dowitchers, whose whole underbody is rufous colored and has a long, straight bill. We continued into a meadow, wher

My American Birding Adventure, Part 8

The last place we visited in America before we left was Halden Farm, where our friend Ellen and her family live. We stayed there for four days, so we had plenty of time to bird, kayak, hike, and explore their huge property. Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk The best birding was at Semiahmoo Marina, Halden Farm, Mt. Baker, and Birch Bay. On August 8th, everyone went to Mt. Baker, one of the tallest mountains in Washington. Because of its latitude and altitude, Mt. Baker has snow on its peak year-round. The coolest thing by far was seeing glaciers for the first time, which was truly mind blowing. The glaciers seemed surreal, especially when observed with binoculars. They almost looked like something from a drawing. Besides the breathtaking scenery, we saw some birds, but not much because the altitude is a bit high for birds. There was a raptor that flew really close, which we thought at first was a juvenile Golden Eagle, but further inspection found it to be a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Anot