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.)

Not-so-good Pics of Good Birds (East Asia #2)

SHAMELESS CROSS-POST-PROMO: Click here for Episode 1 of East Asia

Taiwan has not zero, not 1.5, but two endemic species of Scimitar-babblers, an astonishing fact when you consider that 99% of ABA birders think a Scimitar-Babbler is a virus you pick up in African deserts, where scimitar-babblers conveniently do not exist.

 This Taiwan Scimitar-babbler was too busy babbling to notice the creature with two small eyes and one big glassy one quietly encroaching on it.

Another endemic species, the subtly beautiful, skulky, Taiwan Whistling-thrush. The most notable thing about this bird is -- you didn't guess it--- its plumage (HA! You thought I was going to say call, didn't you) which changes from this dank and stodgy dark blue to an eclectic electric in the right angle.
Unfortunately, although they're streamside feeders, they do not possess the awesome ability of feeding like a dipper.


Taiwan Blue-Magpie

I demand you to click on this photo and revel in the splendor of this beauty. Look at the length of that tail. Just look at it, for fulmar's sake. If it wasn't for the lack of iridescence on that thing, it would surely be up in the top charts with Resplendent Quetzal.

Also, it's endemic to Taiwan, and with complete disregard for the Corvid Rule #384 (which states that if a bird is a corvid, it's going to be common to the point of annoyance), it's only locally viewable.

Oh wait. You thought the line of gorgeous blue magpies was over? (Note: none of these photos are mine, the link to the original source is hyperlinked in the caption)

Yellow-billed Blue Magpie

Yellow-billed Blue Magpie again, just for effect

Red-billed Blue Magpie 

Sri Lanka Blue Magpie (holy Ivory-billed-woodpecker-crap, this thing is gorgeous)

It's not an Urocissa, but let's throw in the American Black-throated Magpie Jay into this jam.

Creature Feature: Obsessed With Those Long Tails? 

Perhaps even more crippling in the long tail department is the Asian Paradise Flycatcher, which unfortunately I dipped on.

  But wait, it doesn't end there. Check out this post for more long-tailed goodness.  







The line of jaw-droppingly beautiful birds in not over. Meet the Taiwan Barbet. This photo does no justice to the remarkable greenness of these guys. The resulting color from mixing two buckets of lime peels, neon lime paint, and solid green gummy bears couldn't compare to how awesome Taiwan Barbets look in the field. So how about yet another photo that isn't mine?

Babble babble,
-chiccadee

A Piece of Taiwan (East Asia Trip Report August #1)

The bird to the left of you is majestically called a Gray Treepie, or a Slate Foilage Pastry as I affectionately dubbed it.


Many of you know about my trip to East Asia. Many of also, no doubt, do not anticipate the trip report and have probably forgotten about it seconds after I mentioned it.

To make a short story long, I tried writing a trip report complete with humour, excellent bird photography and detailed information, but it took about seven hours to write the first day and it soon occurred to me that in the time I was taking to write the trip report I could have seen three yearbirds and maybe a Western Screech-Owl.



This is first in what will be a long and lengthy series of EA posts. Enjoy! 

Don't let the amusing name of the Himalayan Black Bulbul fool you.  Black Bulbuls are one of those deceptively evil birds that fool innocent birders into believing greater and rarer birds are at hand. Then when you actually put your binos up the bird and find out it's another freaking BBB, they squeak at you in a sinister way and say "Haha sucker! No Red-billed Choughs for you!"

Oriental Turtle-doves are clueless and innocent birds. Everyone adores them except for seeds and insects. Just looking into the face of a ORTD will clear all your birdfail sins for the month. 

A Red Turtle-dove. The only thing notable about this particularly one is that it seems to be standing very precariously in a  dangerous Space-Time vortex and could be sucked in any moment. Who knew RTDs were such daredevils (Seriously, what is with that wall? )?

Black-winged Stilts were scattered throughout rice paddies in Southern Taiwan. How its knees do not suddenly and rapidly cave in is a mystery to me. 

Green Sandpipers are delightful birds, but not when they're seen in a heavily cropped picture at full zoom and ISO8000.  

A beautiful hot, humid, sweaty, mosquito-ridden suburban Taiwan Park.

If you look hard enough, you can find a Kentish Plover in this picture, something an ABA-er would go cuckoo over back at home despite its very drab plover-ness. Ten bucks to whoever can find it in under five minutes.

Striated Swallows are likable birds. They take long resting periods, which means you can actually procure decent views of them without binos. Not exactly a prime photo but I like the background boards on this one. They're very board-y. 

-chic

CLICK HERE FOR EAST ASIA #2