The Formosan Blue Magpie

I don't post enough on wildlife in Taiwan so here are a few pics of the Formosan Blue Magpie, an indigenuous species (and our new national bird) found in broadleaf forests and orchards at elevations of 300-800m.

Also called the old lady of the forest, the blue magpie is about 60cm long, 2/3 of which is the spectacularly long tail you see below. Because of the length of this tail the bird tends to short flights between trees. When you see one magpie, grab your camera as more are sure to follow, their inimitable tails flopping behind them. Some good areas for spotting the birds are Yangmingshan, Muzha and the mountain road from Shuangxi to Daxi beach on the coast.

The shots below were all taken about 10 minutes from my house at the start of the trail to Ergeshan, the highest mountain in southern Taipei. The pics are courtesy of Kate Lin who snapped then on a hike up Ergeshan a few weeks ago. I merely cropped the pics and touched up the colors.