Rare spoonbills mark start of autumn arrivals

Two rare black-faced spoonbills were spotted on Tuesday at the mouth of the Tsengwen River (曾文溪) in the Chiku (七股) Wetlands Sanctuary, Tainan County, local bird observers reported yesterday, announcing that the pair of migratory water birds were the first of their kind to arrive in Taiwan this year for the winter.

Ecological experts with the Wildlife Conservation Institute of Tainan County (WCITC) said that they had spotted Caspian terns and gray herons on the county's wetlands this month, both of which are migratory water birds that arrive for the winter.

The experts said more of the rare spoonbills would soon be arriving and that they spotted the two first arrivals at a fish farm near the southern part of the Chiku wetlands.

Lee Ming-hua (李明華), a patrol guard at the sanctuary, said he believed the two spoonbills are adults between three and five years old. He said the birds appeared to be resting after their long trip from the north.

The black-faced spoonbill has the most restricted range of all the spoonbills and is the only species on the list of endangered species. The species lives on a few small rocky islands off the west coast of North Korea during the summer and spends the winter at three small areas in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam.

WCITC chairman Chiu Jen-wu (邱仁武) said the world's black-faced spoonbill population was estimated at only about 1,760 earlier this year. Last year, more than 1,000 black-faced spoonbills wintered at the Chiku wetlands sanctuary, he said.

Since 2004, Chiu said, two black-faced spoonbills have remained in Taiwan year-round. Chiu did not say whether the reason for this is known, but said the two birds spotted on Tuesday were not the two that have remained on the island for the past four years.

Meanwhile, Shih Chun-jung (施純榮), secretary-general of the non-profit Society of Wilderness, said on Tuesday that migratory hawks have arrived in Taiwan on their way south from the cold of northern China's winter. Birdwatchers have a chance to view the birds before they continue to southeast Asia.

Since the beginning of this month, flocks of gray frog hawks from China and the Korean peninsula have been flying through Taiwan, Shih said, noting that the largest volume of migratory raptors usually falls around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Shih said that although summer is the breeding season for most birds and insects, making it the best time for wildlife watchers, Taiwan's autumn holds its own treasures.

Taiwan is one of the most important spots off the coast of China for migratory birds in terms of transit stops and wintering grounds, he said.

Grey frog hawks are usually the first migratory birds to arrive in Taiwan in the autumn, Shih said, recommending Shoting Park in Kenting and Hengchun Township (恆春), both in Pingtung County, as the best viewing grounds.

Following gray frog hawks, the next arrivals are usually grey-faced buzzard eagles, which stop over briefly in early October around Manchou Township (滿洲) in Pingtung County, he said.

In addition to the protected hawks, Shih said many kinds of water birds would shelter in Taiwan beginning next month.