Birdwatching Holiday Taiwan

Taiwan

Saturday 18 April to Saturday 2 May 2009
with Paul Holt and Yenhui Hsu as leaders.

Cost: £2290 plus about £720 for flights
Single room supplement: £260

Click here for explanation of price breakdown

Maximum group size: 10 with 2 leaders. 2 leaders join this tour regardless of group size.

Bird List

Tour Map

Booking Form

Early Portuguese sailors dubbed Taiwan ‘Isla Formosa’ – the beautiful island and although the title was abandoned some time ago in favour of the Chinese name, Taiwan is still a strikingly attractive island with some spectacular mountain scenery. Sitting astride the Tropic of Cancer, less than 250 miles from north to south and 100 miles wide, Taiwan boasts impressive geographic and ecological diversity. A dramatic mountain range with numerous peaks forms the island’s backbone and is flanked either side by a broad, flat coastal plain which is warm and humid.

Amazingly, few western birders have experienced Taiwan’s rich bird life. We’ve been missing out, as many of the species are generally far easier to see here that in most other Asian countries. Moreover Taiwan is an affluent nation with a good tourist infrastructure and road network – travelling around it is genuinely easy. Most importantly, Taiwan boasts an impressive array of endemic species such as Taiwan Yuhina, White-collared Bush Robin, White-eared Sibia and Steere’s Liocichla.

Endemic birds are not all that Taiwan has to offer. The island is the winter home of the bulk of the tiny world population of Black-faced Spoonbill and we expect to see a few lingering birds. The tour’s timing, at the height of the northbound spring migration, means that we’re sure to see a decent number of East Asian migrants. We also stand a good chance of seeing that most elusive of Asian birds, Fairy Pitta.

Day 1: The tour begins in London with an overnight flight to Taipei.

Day 2: Evening arrival in Taiwan where we’ll transfer straight to our hotel in Taipei.

Day 3: After breakfast we’ll travel a short distance to the Taipei Botanical gardens for an introduction to Taiwan’s more common birds. These are sure to include Japanese White-eye and Light-vented Bulbul. This is also one of the best sites for Malayan Night Heron and we should be able to find one stalking earthworms somewhere in the small gardens. A pair of Crested Goshawks also breed in the park most years. From there we’ll drive southwest, away from Taipei, and up into the foothills at Ao-wen Da. We’ll arrive in plenty of time to explore the excellent compact reserve. Night at Ao-wen Da.

Day 4: We’ll spend the morning at Ao-wen Da searching for endemic mid-altitude species such as the vociferous Taiwan Blue Magpie, Taiwan Whistling Thrush, startled-looking Yellow Tit, Steere’s Liocichla, White-eared Sibia and Taiwan Yuhina. But we will not neglect the endemic subspecies of Black-browed Barbet, Vivid Niltava and Dusky Fulvetta or regional specialities like Little Forktail. After a busy morning here we’ll drive higher into the mountain to Chingjing for a three-night stay. Night in Chingjing.

Days 5-6: We’ll have more than two full days exploring numerous sites around Chingjing which, at 1720 metres, is ideal as a base from where to search for Taiwan’s higher elevation specialities. All three of Taiwan’s endemic game birds occur near Chingjing and we’ll spend much of our time quietly walking various trails through the bird-rich temperate forests in our quest to see them all.

The spectacular Swinhoe’s Pheasant is the easiest to see, the elusive Taiwan Partridge undoubtedly the most difficult, while Mikado’s Pheasant isn’t common but we have lots of time. Several of the species we searched for at Ao-wen Da also occur here, while more site-specific specialities include White-whiskered Laughingthrush, the enigmatic Taiwan Wren Babbler and Taiwan Barwing. On one of the days we’ll drive up the Central Cross Island Highway over the Hehuanshan pass which, at 3275 metres, is the highest road pass in East Asia. Target species here include Collared Bush Robin, Flamecrest and the recently described Alishan Bush Warbler. The higher elevation patches of bamboo hold good numbers of Streak-throated Fulvettas and a few Golden Parrotbills, though we’ll need a fair amount of luck to connect with the latter. Other target species include the endemic forms of Alpine Accentor, Vinaceous Rosefinch, and both Brown and Grey-headed Bullfinches. Nights in Chingjing.

Day 7: We'll leave Chingjing early today and drive back up the Hehuanshan Pass, stopping to search for any species we may have missed earlier. Descending the eastern side we'll travel slowly through Taiwan's premier tourist attraction, the spectacular Taroko Gorge, before reaching the coast near Hualien and along the way we are sure to come into contact with Styan's Bulbul, Taiwan's most threatened endemic, before we reach our hotel besides the Wulu forest where we spend the next two nights.

Day 8: We'll take four-wheel drives today and head in to the Wulu forest. Here we'll have further chances to catch up on any of the island's endemics that we might have missed, such as Taiwan Partridge, Mikado Pheasant or Taiwan Blue Shortwing. We'll also look for regional specialities such as the attractive Rusty Laughingthrush before heading back to our hotel for the night.

Day 9: We'll leave our hotel early this morning and drive south to Taitung where we'll take a short, 20 minute flight to the spectacular volcanic Lanyu, or Orchid, Island off Taiwan's south-eastern corner. Still inhabited by some 2000 Yami aboriginies, whose culture is closer to that of the Philippines and Pacific islands that it is to China, Lanyu is radically different to mainland Taiwan. There's plenty to see here from cultural diversion to some excellent birding. The native's traditional homes are underground in order to offer safe refuge from the severe typhoons that ravage the area every autumn. Birds we'll be looking out for on Lanyu include the endemic forms of Elegant Scops Owl, Whistling Gree Pigeon, Brown-eared Bulbul and Japanese White-eye. Night on Lanyu.

Day 10: The island is also home to small numbers of both Brown Cuckoo Doves and Japanese Paradise-flycatchers. In addition we're sure to come across numerous migrants at this time of year and these could include anything from a Little Curlew to a gorgeous Narcissus Flycatcher. We'll spend the morning and early afternoon on Lanyu before taking a two-and-a -half hour journey on a large passenger ferry. Night again in Taitung.

Day 11: After some more birding close to Taitung we'll drive south to Kaohsuing, Taiwan's second largest city. Night in Kaohsuing.

Day 12: We'll spend much of the day travelling slowly along the southwest coastline and intend to stop at numerous sites to search for waders, gulls and terns. The main species well be looking for is Black-faced Spoonbill. The bulk of the tiny world population of this endangered species winter in Taiwan and there should be a few lingering birds still present. Other species here should include a host of waders such as Eastern Curlew, Terek Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler, Great Knot, Long-toed Stint and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. With luck we might be able to find a Chines Egret or Spoon-billed Sandpipe. Night in Tainan.

Day 13: In the morning we'll spend more time searching for birds along the coast. With luck we might be able to find a Chinese Egret or even Spoon-billed Sandpiper, and there are even a couple of recent records of Chinese Crested Tern here. In the afternoon we'll head north spending the night in a hotel at Douliou.

Day 14: Accompanied by a local naturalist, we’ll make an early morning visit to Pillow Hill near Douliou with the aim of finding the gorgeous and elusive Fairy Pitta, a few pairs of which breed here. With the help of a scientist who has been studying these birds we should be able to find at least one individual before we head back to Taipei stopping for any birds we may see along the way. Night in Taipei.

Day 15: We’ll catch an early morning flight from Taipei back to London where the tour concludes the same evening.