East Asian Trash Birds (East Asia #3)

There are branch birds. There are stone birds. But the very worst are trash birds. All across the globe, birders are being fooled by bright pieces of plastic and those awful stretchy plastic bags. But the real Trash Birds are no joke. They're stunning enough to fool birders into passing them off as yet another normal trash bird. To be admitted into the Trash Bird League is a great honor among the avian.

Trash.

Not trash. Not even close.

Taiwan has a decent amount of Real Trash Birds, more than California, anyway, where all the Trashiest birds are vagrants. To get into the real heart of bird trashiness, a trip to Papua New Guinea, South Africa, or some other place with an innumerable amount of bright, shiny, birds is required.

Grey-chinned Minivet (Taiwan). From this trashy photo, this Grey-chinned Minivet looks like a plastic bag. In the field, these guys are orange enough to burst a fire extinguisher into flames. Even the females are strangely un-drabby. 

Long, azure, iridescent tail = bird trash points. The beauty of Azure-winged Magpies is coupled when you consider that they often hang out with Red-billed Blue-magpies (Beijing area). Remember those? 

You can't get tired of Azure-winged Magpies. They (and Eurasian Tree Sparrows) will inhabit areas other birds refuse to touch. If you pour what looks like a giant heap of dandruff next to a sewer opening, Azure-winged Magpies will eat it. 

Everyone knows Hoopoes, even anti-twitchers. They're called "she niao," in Chinese, or Snake Bird, because of their frequent predation of snakes. Extra trash points for bird badassery. 

-chiccadee

CLICK HERE FOR EAST ASIA #2
CLICK HERE FOR EAST ASIA #1
CLICK HERE FOR EAST ASIA #4 (Oh right. I haven't written it yet.)