A group of nearly 40 amateur birders clocked 135 critically endangered Formosan ring-necked pheasants during an annual watch in Taitung’s Zhiben Wetlands Sunday.

According to a statement issued on the same day by the Wild Bird Society of Taitung, society members spotted 25 of the birds and recorded the presence of 110 from bird sounds.

The Formosan ring-necked pheasant was listed as a critically endangered species in the Council of Agriculture’s Red List of Birds of Taiwan 2016.

When the survey was first conducted in 2018, 81 ring-necked pheasants were recorded in the wetlands, which lie next to an estuary of the northern bank of the Zhiben River.

The area is an important breeding habitat for ring-necked pheasants in Taiwan, according to the society, which recorded 128 birds there in 2019, with 163 in 2020 and 147 in 2021.

The society said the number of birds had dropped over the past two years after vast stretches of the grasslands were burned in a suspected arson attack in February 2021.

According to the society, the Formosan ring-necked pheasant is one of three endangered or vulnerable bird species in the wetlands, along with the Taiwan hwamei, and the black-naped oriole.

March and April, the ring-necked pheasants’ mating season, is the best time for recording the presence of the species using bird sounds as male birds chirp constantly to try to attract a mate, the society said.

Despite only recording 135 on Sunday, the society estimates that there are hundreds more Formosan ring-necked pheasants resident in the Zhiben Wetlands.

The wetlands, certified as an important habitat for wild birds by BirdLife International in 2004, are home to some 200 bird species, according to data compiled by eBird Taiwan.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel