Tainan Young Birder Blog

I usually go birding every chance I have, but in my busy teen schedule, I usually only have a morning or sometimes if I'm lucky, a whole day free. Besides going birding with my dad, if the Tainan Wild Bird Society has any events going on, I almost always participate. For example, me and my dad participate in the New Year Bird Count every year, we help with the Black-faced Spoonbill survey, and other numerous Wetland birding events, and I also volunteer to be a bird guide at a local birding spot sponsored by the Wild Bird Society. One year we focused on submitting as many checklists for a local wetland IBA to help prevent it from becoming a solar farm, which would mean that the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and the Nordmann’s Greenshank would have to find another spot to rest during migration.  Black-faced Spoonbill (with tag) Beside all the events we participate in, me and my dad use eBird every time we go birding, and take very careful counts when we bird. Recently I have started to pay ...

The windbreak forest in Tainan is one of my favorite birding spots to visit, especially during the fall and spring migration. The windbreak forest is located in Qigu, right next to the ocean. Its main purpose is to stop strong sea winds and sand from blowing futher inland. The forest is mainly composed of beefwood trees, which look similar to conifers. The windbreak forest is typically a short rest-stop for migrating birds. This makes it equal parts frustrating and rewarding, because when I hear of an exotic bird reported there, it is often gone by the time I have a chance to check. However, sometimes I get lucky and see some lifers there. Ashy Minivet Some common birds found there are Pale Thrush, Brown-headed Thrush, Black-faced Bunting, Manchurian Bush-warbler, Oriental Magpie-robin, and White’s Thrush. Some more exotic birds that I’ve seen there include Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, Red-breasted Flycatcher, and Red-flanked Bluetail. Pechora Pipit I usua...

For as long as I can remember, I have had a deep passion for birds. Birding isn’t a very popular hobby or passion for young people in Taiwan, so most of the birders I know are either retired or almost retired. For all the years I have been birding, I have never met someone my age who shares the same birding passion. Most of my friends are more interested in video games and aren’t particularly interested in birding or nature, so I hope that in the future I'll be able to find others like me that eat, sleep, and drink birding. Now that I’m getting ready to enter my high school years, I have begun to think more seriously about what I want to do in the future. I’m really hopeful that I can find some way to make a career out of my love for birding and nature. Taiwan Yellow Tit I hope to participate in ornithological research in the future, observing birds in the field. I think I would prefer field research, because it involves live birds. I also hope that I will be able to help cons...

 M y interest in birds started when I was five. Even before I brought birding into my family, we always spent a lot of time up in the mountains and out in nature. We love learning about the flora and fauna of Taiwan and about Taiwanese indigenous culture. One long weekend, we visited a small village. Just by chance, the other guests were birders, and one of them was actually the chairperson of the Tainan Wild Bird Society (like the Audobon in America). One morning, after a hike, they got super excited by a large bird circling around in the sky. I was curious, so they lent me their binoculars, and told me it was a Mountain Hawk-eagle, the rarest eagle in Taiwan.   Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Ali 2021      They also had a field guide, and showed me some birds I might see in the area and how to identify them. Sure enough, on our next morning walk, we found birds that we had never noticed before. From that point on, I was hooked. At first, I would beg my dad to buy us a pa...