 ¡@Birds
Around 500 bird species have been recorded in Taiwan,
of which around 150 species are residents. They include 14 endemic
species and 69 endemic subspecies, such as the Mikado pheasant,
Swinhoe's pheasant, the Formosan laughing thrush, the white-eared
sibia, Steere's babbler, the alpine accentor, Styan's bulbul
and the crested goshawk.
For its area, Taiwan has a very high proportion of endemic species
and subspecies. This well reflects the special characteristics
of island bird life. But past research into these local bird
was very limited, and information about them is far from complete.
Furthermore, excessive development of our environment is changing
or destroying bird species' habitats, and local people's habit
of indiscriminately capturing or releasing wild birds, or keeping
them as pets, are accelerating the threat to wild species' survival.
TRESI is currently conducting a comprehensive survey of Taiwan's
bird resource, in order to gain a more complete picture of
their distribution, populations and so on. At the same time
we are researching the biology of such endemic species as
the Mikado pheasant to assist the work of local and international
bird conservation groups.
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