Bird Ecological Center

The Tainan Wild Bird Society, of which I am a member, is in charge of the Bird Ecological Center in the Taijiang National Park in the Sicao area of Tainan. It was originally an office for administrators of the salt industry and was built during the Japanese Occupation. The Anshun Salt Fields are a big attraction in Taijiang and the beautiful scenery brings tourists from around the island. Harvesting salt was a major industry in Tainan throughout the Japanese and KMT periods, and only ended in the last forty years or so. After the harvesting stopped, the Wild Bird Society decided to preserve the building and use it as a resource for the public to learn more about birds and the larger ecology of the Taijiang area.

When I volunteer there, my work is mainly focused on introducing the large array of bird specimens and a cool display of local seeds and fruits. I take visitors around the specimen room and give a broad introduction of the birds on display and some interesting facts about them. Usually the visitors either happened upon the place or were visiting the surrounding area and stopped by for a brief visit. The people that visit are usually at least mildly interested and will listen politely, although some look like they would rather be somewhere else. Once in a great while, you meet someone who really becomes interested, someone almost enchanted. These people are the ones that touch me and make me feel like what I’m doing is meaningful. Those are the times I really enjoy.

Although I really enjoy the volunteer work at the Ecological Center, there are a couple of things that I think can be improved upon. While there are a lot of bird specimens for visitors to enjoy, actual birds in the surrounding area are scarce and are not easy to observe. There are two main reasons for this. First, there are not many salt fields any longer, so most of the pools are too deep for most waterbirds and their tiny legs. The second reason is that many of the trees have become overgrown and impede views to the surrounding pools. While this is safer for the birds, it makes observing the birds that are there that much harder. Also, because the Bird Ecological Center is in the Taijiang National Park and is considered a historic site, it is hard to make changes to the building.

I really like going to the center because I have a chance to meet new people and get them interested in birds or least more aware of them. I can help people understand the difficulties and threats birds are facing and help guide them to knowing how we can all work together to make this place we live in even better for humans and birds alike.