Taiwan birding trip 2012


Taiwan birding trip report, 11 - 24 November 2012 John van der Woude - www.jvanderw.nl
Taiwan is a great birding destination. Not only for all the endemic species and subspecies, but also for the beautiful mountain forests, the food and the nice people. We again joined Stijn de Win of birding2asia on a small group tour, like this spring in the Philippines. Thanks to his extensive experience with Taiwan trips, we got all the endemics and loads of endemic subspecies. He cleverly designed and adjusted the itinerary, and we also had the luck that the few rainy days of the trip were spent in the lowlands (where the weather is not so important birdwise) and not in the mountains where visibility would have been bad. We used the costly morning hours by getting up early and having breakfast in the excellent 7 Eleven shops which are open 24/7. Our lunches were also mostly there, to further increase the flexibility during the day (with nice sandwiches/sushi/etc.). Stijn drove the van himself and therefore could stop immediately on the quiet roads when a bird was spotted. Also, Stijn's small group size (max. 5 for Taiwan) practically ensures that no one misses a bird.
All this made the tour a success. We had all 24 endemics, plus a mighty 46 endemic subspecies, so that's 70 endemic taxa. See the species list at the bottom of this page. Our field guide was Mark Brazil's Birds of East Asia, which shows quite a few of the Taiwan endemic subspecies. In one of the bookshops of the nature reserves I also bought a recent photo field guide for Taiwan (all in Chinese only except the bird name; good photos). The best Taiwan only field guide is out of print and sold out everywhere, but we were told locally that it may be reprinted in a year or two, although its taxonomy should probably be updated.
The 9 day group tour itinerary was: first a few days at Anmashan for the mid elevation mountain forests (both pheasants); then shorter stays in the forested hills of Huisun (blue magpie), the Kentings lowlands, the Tsengwen estuary (spoonbill) and the mountain forest of Yushan (barwing); and the last days were spent at Wushe (mid to high elevation) for a few remaining species.
Before and after the group tour Nollie and I spent a few extra days on Taiwan on our own. We loved the vibrant city of Taipei where we stayed two nights before the tour and also visited the Guandu nature park. At Wushe, we stayed behind for a few days after the group tour, and we ended our trip at the temples of Tainan and again one last night in Taipei. On these private days we travelled by bus, taxi, metro and high speed train, which was easy.
When birding on your own instead of in a group tour, a rental car will almost be a must unless you have plenty of time, or restrict yourself to one or two good sites (like at Wushe, where on our private post-tour days we saw several of the species of the group tour again, as if in retrospect). Renting a car in Taiwan (international driver's license required) is, despite the fine roads, not as easy as it could be, because of the extremely high deductible in case of loss/damage of the car. Also, in rural areas not many people speak English. On the other hand, the Taiwanese are very nice and will always try to help you, as often happened to us on our private post-tour days.
	Map of Taiwan with our birding sites 1 = Taipei 2 = Anmashan / Dashuehshan forest reserve 3 = Huisun forest reserve 4 = Kenting lowlands (Longluan lake) 5 = Tsengwen estuary 6 = Alishan & Yushan NP 7 = Wushe (Renai) valleys and pass

Guangdu temple and marsh in northern part of Taipei, on our private pre-tour days here, which were also meant to get used to the time difference.
View from hide in Guangdu nature park in northern part of Taipei. Ducks (Eastern Spot-billed), herons, waders, swallows and Vinous-throated Parrotbill.
Map at western exit of Guangdu metro station (main north-south metro line in Taipei), showing how to walk (15 minutes) to the Guangdu nature park (open 9 to 5; closed on Mondays) in the upper left corner of the map. The metro system is very easy and has a high frequency; best to buy a day pass. Good also to choose a hotel not far from the main north-south line, like the fine Mai hotel we had (maihotel.com.tw).
Anmashan (Dashuehshan) site, along the dead-end mountain road going up east from Dongshi. Taiwan Hwamei, Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler, Taiwan Whistling-Thrush and Taiwan Barbet were among the first endemics we encountered. Higher up along this road we also had our only Black-necklaced Scimitar-Babblers and White-backed Woodpeckers of the trip.
Swinhoe's Pheasant female (above) and subadult male (below) along the same Anmashan road at about Km 21.
Scaly Thrush well camouflaged in leaf litter along the road in Anmashan, near the above pheasants. Here we also had Rusty Laughingthrush (a group of 15) and Island Thrush.
Endemic White-whiskered Laughingthrushes on Anmashan road. Inquisitive and confiding!
Adult male Swinhoe's Pheasant along Anmashan road, later in the afternoon, like the Mikado below. We actually drove the Anmashan road a few times up and down for some distance that day. Meanwhile we also had good views of Yellow Tit, Steere's Liocichla, White-eared Sibia, Eye-browed Thrush.
Mikado Pheasant (adult male), the main prize on the Anmashan road.
Vivid Niltava, Anmashan. One of the 46 Taiwan-endemic subspecies we saw on this trip.
Along the Anmashan road. Even on the third day along this road we picked up important trip ticks, like the very shy Taiwan Bush-Warbler, but not yet the hoped-for Taiwan Partridge.
Near the entrance of Huisun forest reserve. A group of three Taiwan Blue Magpie majestically flew across the valley. They were also just behind the entrance of the reserve.
Malayan Night-Heron in Huisun forest reserve, behind the entrance. Taiwan is reportedly the easiest place to see it. Other good birds in Huisun FR were Varied Tit and Maroon Oriole.
Crested Goshawk in Jiji botanical garden, a short stop to stretch the legs on our way from Huisun to the coast.
Well equipped hide at Longluan lake in the Kenting lowlands. Osprey and ducks.
Park along path to the above hide, good for Chinese Bamboo-Partridge, Taiwan Hwamei, Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler and Styan's Bulbul.
Surprise along same path to the hide: Emerald Dove not hidden on the forest floor but out in the open!

Styan's Bulbul was the main reason for going to Kenting (this endemic species only occurs in the S/SE of Taiwan), but we also had nice birds like Temminck's Stint, Long-toed Stint and Red-throated Pipits in the wet fields near Longluan lake.
Black-faced Spoonbills ('only' 100) at their special reserve in the Tsengwen estuary near Tainan. Also 300 Caspian Terns, Kentish Plovers, Lesser Sand Plovers and a few Saunders Gulls on this mud flats. In the smaller wetlands around this mud flat area we had Grey-throated Martin (a colony), Slaty-breasted Rail, Scaly-breasted Munia, Red-Throated Pipit and (in a drier field) Long-tailed Shrike.
Stijn and his scope at the BFS hide. He showed one child the spoonbills and to our amusement (with plenty of time on our hands here) immediately a queue formed of other visitors who also wanted a view.
Alishan/Yushan area. Collared Bush-Robin, Taiwan Barwing, Taiwan Wren-Babbler, thrushes, both fulvettas, bullfinches, Flamecrest, Mountain Hawk-Eagle.
Alishan/Yushan was our best site for Collared Bush-Robin.
The Wushe area (east of Puli), the final destination of the group tour. Beautiful forest, like at our other mountain sites. Many of the species of Anmashan again, and some new ones. See the species list below for a comparison between the three mountain sites. Of course there is overlap, but leaving out one of the mountain sites would be a pity.
At the Hehuan pass of the high end of the Wushe area. Good for the two high altitude specialties (endemic subspecies as well) of the photos below.
Alpine Accentor on the 3rd parking lot in the pass (East of the actual pass).
Vinaceous Rosefinch behind a shed at the first parking lot of the pass. At this spot we also had a shy Japanese Thrush (female type), a rare visitor from Japan.
Looking westward in the Wushe area.
At several places on this trip we saw Blue Rock-Thrush. This is the red-bellied philippensis subspecies.
Eye-browed Thrush was everywhere this winter.
Commonly encountered: Collared Finchbill.
Birdwing butterfly.
At the lower end of the Wushe area, an experimental farm (Chung Yang) was good for some extra species like Siberian Rubythroat. Tea in the foreground.
White-bellied Green-Pigeons at the above farm, with a little rain.
View from the homestay at Wushe where Nollie and I stayed behind after the group tour. The only Brambling of the trip was in the trees in the foreground (male & female). This homestay 'Tienhsiang TS Tea' (tel. +886 932 553425) is located at c. Km 4 of road 14B (see Google Maps), so 4 km from where 14B splits from 14. Road 14B is the road to the Hehuan pass (see photo above). The homestay is well located for walks in the immediate surroundings, and there are buses and taxis to go further up, e.g. to Km 18 where the side road left (at the police station) leads to the Blue Gate track after some 500 m. The homestay is situated at only 200 m up from the start of a quiet side road going left (as seen from below), a very good birding road (see below). A nice and lively restaurant (chicken, fish) is a 100 m walk up from the homestay. At the homestay they also make a Japanese-style meal for you if you wish. At the start of the side road is another and probably rather new hotel. There is a direct bus connection between the high speed rail (HSR) station of Taichung and the homestay. Our direct bus down to the HSR station left at 11.10 h (arrival at HSR at 13.20 h). Note that the town of Wushe is named Renai on some maps.
Good birding along the side road that starts at Km 4 of the Wushe road (14B; the road towards the pass). Our Homestay was only 200 m uphill from the start of this quiet side road. The above photo is at 500 m or so from the start of the road, and here we had Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Chinese Bamboo-Partridge (several groups seen along this road), Siberian Rubythroat and thrushes.
A few km further along this side road larger forest patches appear. Most of the species indicated with 'Wu' in the species list below were seen along here. We saw seveal large flocks inside the forest, with e.g. 17 Grey-chinned Minivets plus a whole array of other species around it. At c. Km 6 there was a new landslide and we did not walk beyond that; the smaller, older landslide at Km 4 or 5 was not a problem.
At the 'Blue Gate' track much higher up in the Wushe area, it was very quiet now, many birds had probably gone to lower altitudes. But the main prize was still here, on our second, private visit: Taiwan Partridge, a bird flying up from the forest floor at the side of the track, at only 7 m from us. Although it was a brief view and the back side only, it was clearly a partridge, and this deep inside the forest it can only have been Taiwan Partridge. Walking down from the main road 14B (at Km 18) to this track we had excellent views of Taiwan Barwing and Taiwan Wren-Babbler.
Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler in the garden of the Homestay in the Wushe area, frantically trying to open the folded dead leaves (with insects we presume) at his feet.
Temple in Tainan, the oldest city of Taiwan, and easily reached by high speed rail.
Remains of Fort Zeelandia in Anping, Tainan. The bricks of this 17th century Dutch fort were shipped all the way from Jakarta (Batavia). The Dutch were thrown out here by Koxinga, who is now regarded as the first Chinese to conquer a Western power.
Temple festivities in Tainan.

Temple decoration in Tainan (bulbuls?).
A common roadside sight (Tainan).
The high speed train which makes travel in the western part of Taiwan so easy, at 350 km/h, and 2-3 times per hour in both directions.
Masterpiece of Chinese art in the splendid National Palace Museum of Taipei: detail of the 12 m long drawing of the Qing Ming river festival. The other highlights of Taipei include its food stalls at the night markets, a few temples and the general vibrant atmosphere. On the lawns of the impressive Chiang Kai Shek memorial were Malayan Night Herons.
Species list in IOC sequence E = endemic species es = endemic subspecies An = Anmashan/Dashuehshan AY = Alishan/Yushan NP Wu = Wushe area* Gu = Guandu nature park Taipei* Hu = Huisun forest reserve Ji = Jiji park Ke = Kenting area Ts = Tsengwen estuary Taip = Taipei (other than Guandu)* .. = elsewhere Note: * (above) = including the species seen by us before and after the group tour

E	Taiwan Partridge	An(h)		Wu(J)		Arborophila crudigularis
es	Chinese Bamboo Partridge			Wu	Ke	Bambusicola thoracicus	sonorivox
E	Swinhoe's Pheasant	An				Lophura swinhoii
E	Mikado Pheasant	An				Syrmaticus mikado
	Eurasian Wigeon				Ts	Anas penelope
	Mallard				Ke	Anas platyrhynchos
	Eastern Spot-billed Duck				Gu,Ke	Anas zonorhyncha
	Northern Pintail				Ke	Anas acuta
	Northern Shoveler				Gu,Ke	Anas clipeata
	Eurasian Teal				Gu,Ke,Ts	Anas crecca
	Tufted Duck				Ke	Aythya fuligula
	Little Grebe				Gu,Ke,Ts	Tachybaptus ruficollis
intr.	Sacred Ibis				Gu,Ts	Threskironis aethiopicus
	Black-faced Spoonbill				Ts	Platalea minor
	Malayan Night Heron	An			Taip,Hu	Gorsachius melanolophus
	Black-crowned Night Heron				Gu,Ke,..	Nycticorax nycticorax
	Striated Heron	An				Butorides striata
	Eastern Cattle Egret	An			Gy,Ke,..	Bubulcus coromandus
	Grey Heron				Gu,Ke,Ts	Ardea cinerea
	Purple Heron				Ke	Ardea purpurea
	Eastern Great Egret				Ke,Ts	Ardea modesta
	Intermediate Egret				Gu,Ke	Egretta intermedia
	Little Egret	An			Ji,Ke,Ts	Egretta garzetta
	Great Cormorant				Ke	Phalacrocorax carbo
	Western Osprey				Ke	Pandion haliaetus
	Black-winged Kite				Ts	Elanus caeruleus
es	Crested Serpent Eagle	An		Wu		Spilornis cheela	hoya
	Eastern Marsh Harrier				Ke	Circus spilonotus
es	Crested Goshawk	An	AY		Ji	Accipiter trivirgatus	formosae
es	Besra	An		Wu		Accipiter virgatus	fuscipectus
	Black Eagle	An				Ictinaetus malayensis
	Mountain Hawk-Eagle		AY	Wu		Nisaetus nipalensis
	Peregrine Falcon				Ke	Falco peregrinus
	Common Kestrel				Ke,Ts	Falco tinnunculus
es	Slaty-breasted Rail				Ts	Gallirallus striatus	taiwanus
	White-breasted Waterhen				Ke	Amaurornis phoenicurus
	Common Moorhen				Gu,Ke,Ts	Gallinula chloropus
	Eurasian Coot				Ke	Fulica atra
	Black-winged Stilt				Gu,Ke,Ts	Himantopus himantopus
	Pacific Golden Plover				Ke,Ts	Pluvialis fulva
	Grey Plover				Ke,Ts	Pluvialis squatarola
	Little Ringed Plover				Ke,Ts	Charadrius dubius
	Kentish Plover				Ke,Ts	Charadrius alexandrinus
	Lesser Sand Plover				Ke,Ts	Charadrius mongolus
	Common Snipe				Ke	Gallinago gallinago
	Bar-tailed Godwit				Ke,Ts	Limosa lapponica
	Eurasian Curlew				Ts	Numenius arquata
	Common Redshank				Ke,Ts	Tringa totanus
	Marsh Sandpiper				Ts	Tringa stagnatilis
	Common Greenshank				Gu,Ke,Ts	Tringa nebularia
	Green Sandpiper				Gu,Ke,Ts	Tringa ochropus
	Wood Sandpiper				Gu,Ke,Ts	Tringa glareola
	Common Sandpiper				Gu,Ke,Ts	Actitis hypoleucos
	Temminck's Stint				Ke	Calidris temminckii
	Long-toed Stint				Ke	Calidris subminuta
	Curlew Sandpiper				Ke	Calidris ferruginea
	Dunlin				Ts	Calidris alpina
	Saunders's Gull				Ts	Chroicocephalus saundersi
	Caspian Tern				Ke,Ts	Hydroprogne caspia
	Little Tern				Ke,Ts	Sternula albifrons
	Whiskered Tern				Ke,Ts	Chlidonias hybrida
	Ashy Wood Pigeon	An				Columba pulchricollis
es	Oriental Turtle Dove	An		Wu	Gu,Ke	Streptopelia orientalis	orii
	Red Turtle Dove	An	AY		Gu,Ke,..	Streptopelia tranquebarica
	Spotted Dove	An	AY		Gu,..	Stigmatopelia chinensis
	Common Emerald Dove				Ke	Chalcophaps indica
	White-bellied Green Pigeon	An		Wu		Treron sieboldii	sororius
es	Mountain Scops Owl	An(h)				Otus spilocephalus	hambroecki
es	Collared Scops Owl	An(h)				Otus lettia	glabripes
	Silver-backed Needletail	An		Wu		Hirundapus cochinchinensis
es	House Swift	An	AY	Wu	Taip,..	Apus nipalensis	kuntzi
	Common Kingfisher	An	AY		Ji	Alcedo atthis
E	Taiwan Barbet	An	AY	Wu	Ji,Ke	Megalaima nuchalis
es	Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker	An	AY	Wu	Hu	Dendrocopos canicapillus	kaleensis
es	White-backed Woodpecker	An				Dendrocopos leucotos	insularis
	Grey-chinned Minivet	An		Wu		Pericrocotus solaris
	Brown Shrike				Ke,Ts,..	Lanius cristatus
	Long-tailed Shrike				Ts	Lanius schach
	White-bellied Erpornis			Wu	Hu	Erpornis zantholeuca
es	Maroon Oriole				Hu	Oriolus traillii	ardens
es	Black Drongo	An			Gu,Ke,..	Dicrurus macrocercus	harteri
	Ashy Drongo	An				Dicrurus leucophaeus
es	Bronzed Drongo	An		Wu	..	Dicrurus aeneus	braunianus
es	Black-naped Monarch	An			Ke, ..	Hypothymis azurea	oberholseri
es	Eurasian Jay	An	AY			Garrulus glandarius	taivanus
E	Taiwan Blue Magpie				Hu	Urocissa caerulea
es	Grey Treepie	An		Wu	Hu,Ke	Dendrocitta formosae	formosae
	Eurasian Magpie	An			Ke	Pica pica
es	Spotted Nutcracker	An	AY			Nucifraga caryocatactes	owstoni
	Large-billed Crow	An	AY		..	Corvus macrorhynchos
es	Varied Tit				Hu	Poecile varius	castaneoventris
es	Coal Tit	An	AY			Periparus ater	ptilosus
es	Green-backed Tit	An	AY	Wu		Parus monticolus	insperatus
E	Yellow Tit	An		Wu		Parus holsti
es	Oriental Skylark				Ke,Ts	Alauda gulgula	wattersi
es	Collared Finchbill	An		Wu		Spzixos semitorques	cinereicapillus
es	Light-vented (Chinese) Bulbul	common				Pycnonotus sinensis	formosae
E	Styan's Bulbul				Ke	Pycnonotus taivanus
es	Black Bulbul	common				Hypsipetes leucocephalus	nigerrimus
	Grey-throated Martin				Ke	Riparia chinensis
	Barn Swallow				Gu,Ts	Hirundo rustica
	Pacific Swallow			Wu	Ke,..	Hirundo tahitica
	Asian House Martin	An		Wu	Gu, ..	Delichon dasypus
	Striated Swallow	An			Gu,..	Cecropis striolata
	Manchurian Bush Warbler			Wu		Cettia canturians
es	Brown-flanked Bush Warbler	An		Wu		Horornis fortipes	robustipes
es	Yellow-bellied Bush Warbler	An	AY			Horornis acanthizoides	concolor
	Rufous-faced Warbler	An	AY	Wu		Abroscopus albogularis
	Black-throated Bushtit	An	AY	Wu		Aegithalos concinnus
	Arctic Warbler				Ke	Phylloscopus borealis
	Oriental Reed Warbler				Ke	Acrocephalus orientalis
E	Taiwan Bush Warbler	An				Locustella alishanensis
	Zitting Cisticola				Ke	Cisticola juncidis
es	Striated Prinia			Wu	Hu	Prinia crinigera	striata
es	Plain Prinia			Wu	Gu,Ts	Prinia inornata	flavirostris
E	Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler	An				Pomatorhinus erythrocnemis
E	Taiwan Scimitar Babbler	An		Wu	Ke	Pomatorhinus musicus
E	Taiwan Wren-Babbler	An(h)	AY	Wu		Pnoepyga formosana
es	Rufous-capped Babbler	An	AY	Wu		Stachyris ruficeps	praecognita
E	Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush	An		Wu		Garrulax ruficeps
E	Rusty Laughingthrush	An				Garrulax poecilorhynchus
E	Taiwan Hwamei	An		Wu	Ke(h)	Garrulax taewanus
E	White-whiskered Laughingthrush	An	AY			Garrulax morrisonianus
E	Steere's Liocichla	An	AY	Wu		Liocichla steerii
E	Taiwan Barwing		AY	Wu		Actinodura morrisoniana
E	Taiwan Fulvetta		AY	Wu		Alcippe formosana
es	Dusky Fulvetta	An		Wu		Alcippe brunnea	brunnea
E	Grey-cheeked Fulvetta	An	AY	Wu		Alcippe morrisonia
E	White-eared Sibia	An		Wu	Hu	Heterophasia auricularis
E	Taiwan Yuhina	An	AY	Wu		Yuhina brunneiceps
es	Vinous-throated Parrotbill			Wu	Gu	Paradoxornis webbianus	bulomacha
	Japanese White-eye	An		Wu	Gu,Hu	Zosterops japonicus
E	Flamecrest	An	AY			Regulus goodfellowi
es	Winter Wren	An(N)				Troglodytes troglodytes	taivanus
	Eurasian Nuthatch	An	AY	Wu		Sitta europaea
intr.	White-vented (Javan) Myna	common				Acridotheres javanicus
	Common Myna				Ke	Acridotheres tristis
	White-shouldered Starling				Ke	Sturnia sinensis
E	Taiwan Whistling Thrush	An			Hu	Myophonus insularis
	Scaly Thrush	An	AY			Zoothera dauma
	Japanese Thrush			Wu		Turdus cardis
es	Island Thrush	An(J)				Turdus poliocephalus	niveiceps
	Eyebrowed Thrush	An	AY	Wu		Turdus obscurus
	Pale Thrush			Wu		Turdus pallidus
	Brown-headed Thrush		AY	Wu		Turdus chrysolaus
	Siberian Rubythroat			Wu		Luscinia calliope
es	White-browed Shortwing			Wu(N)		Bracypterix montana	goodfellowi
es	White-browed Bush Robin			Wu		Tarsiger indicus	formosanus
E	Collared Bush Robin	An	AY			Tarsiger johnstoniae
	Daurian Redstart			Wu	Hu,Ke	Phoenicurus auroreus
es	Plumbeous Water Redstart	An	AY	Wu		Rhyacornis fuliginosa	affinis
es	White-tailed Robin	An				Myiomela leucura	montium
	Little Forktail	An				Enicurus scouleri
	Blue Rock Thrush		AY	Wu	Ke	Monticola solitarius
	Grey-streaked Flycatcher				Ji	Muscicapa griseisticta
es	Vivid Niltava	An		Wu		Niltava vivida	vivida
es	Plain Flowerpecker	An				Dicaeum minullum	uchidai
es	Fire-breasted Flowerpecker	An				Dicaeum ignipectus	formosum
	Eurasian Tree Sparrow			Wu	Ke,Ts	Passer montanus
	White-rumped Munia	An		Wu		Lonchura striata
	Scaly-breasted Munia				Ts	Lonchura punctulata
es	Alpine Accentor			Wu		Prunella collaris	fennelli
	Eastern Yellow Wagtail				Gu,Ke,..	Motacilla tschutschensis
	Grey Wagtail	An			Gu	Motacilla cinerea
	White Wagtail	An			Ke,..	Motacilla alba
	Olive-backed Pipit			Wu		Anthus hodgsoni
	Red-throated Pipit				Ke,Ts	Anthus cervinus
	Brambling			Wu		Fringilla montifringilla
es	Vinaceous Rosefinch			Wu		Carpodacus vinaceus	formosanus
es	Brown Bullfinch			Wu		Pyrrhula nipalensis	uchidai
es	Grey-headed (Beavan's) Bullfinch	An		Wu		Pyrrhula erythaca	owstoni
	Hawfinch	An				Coccothraustes coccothraustes
	Black-faced Bunting	An		Wu	..	Emberiza spodocephala