Readers’ Photos:

Pheasant-Tailed Jacana (Wu Jiaren)

The pheasant-tailed jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus), known colloquially as the water caltrop bird, is able to walk on floating leaves. In Taiwan it is a rare resident bird and mainly lives in water caltrop fields. This bird practices polyandry, and the males are responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the chicks. Male birds can often be seen leading chicks in search of food.

Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater (Zhang Xiuhuang)

The blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus) is a distinctive migratory bird that summers in Kinmen from April to September and breeds there. Because of its dexterous midair hunting skills, it is also dubbed the “summer sprite.”

Big-Eyed Rat Snake (Yang Shujun) 

The big-eyed rat snake (Zaocys dhumnades) is widely distributed across Taiwan at middle to low elevations below 1,500 meters. Its main habitats are mountain areas and farmland, and its most noticeable feature is the large size of its eyes in proportion to its head. Long and slender, this is a very fast-moving and agile snake.

Best Performer (Wu Jianwei)

While strolling through the Taipei Botanical Garden, I came upon a Taiwan japalure (Diploderma swinhonis, also known as Swinhoe’s japalure or Swinhoe’s tree lizard). Completely unafraid of people, it stood proudly on a block of wood looking left and right with a adorably playful air. It may be the best performer of the animal kingdom.

Taipei Tree Frog (Xu Chengrui)

The Taipei tree frog (Zhangixalus taipeianus) is endemic to Taiwan. It lives in humid lowland forests, marshes, freshwater wetlands, and farmland in subtropical and tropical areas. It is also a common sight in the calla lily fields at Zhuzihu (Bamboo Lake) on Yangmingshan.

Taiwan Blue Magpie (Pan Tongxi)

The Taiwan blue magpie (Urocissa caerulea), also known as the “long-tailed mountain lady,” is about 64 centimeters in length and mainly lives in broadleaf forest at middle to low elevations, as well as in urban national parks with protected areas. Thus it is easy to see this beautiful bird.

Formosan Yellow-Throated Marten (Yang Shuzhen)

The Formosan yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula chrysospila), a Taiwanese endemic subspecies, is found in primeval forest at elevations from 300 to 3,900 meters, but is most commonly seen at middle elevations. Its lustrous fur is strikingly colored in golden yellow, dark brown, black, and white. It is carnivorous and hunts in packs to encircle larger prey like Reeves’s muntjac, but also consumes small mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and insects.

Nurturing (Chen Meixiu)

The Formosan rock macaque (Macaca cyclopis) is generally recognized by zoologists as a Taiwanese endemic species due to its unique features, including a long tail. The macaque lives in mountain forests and has the greatest learning capacity of any wild animal in Taiwan. Infant macaques cling to their mothers to breastfeed, and continue to hold on tightly as their mothers move about. It’s a very endearing sight.

Taiwan Water Buffalo (Zhang Wenxiong)

As farming practices in Taiwan have changed, water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) that no longer have plows to pull have gradually transformed from being domestic livestock kept by humans into herds of feral animals living independently in the mountains.