{"id":959,"date":"2015-03-25T23:41:28","date_gmt":"2015-03-25T23:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/nt2020\/?p=959"},"modified":"2015-06-03T15:19:10","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T15:19:10","slug":"taiwan-recon-islandisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/taiwan-recon-islandisms\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan Recon: Islandisms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Island or “Insular” Biogeography<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a theory and field of study that examines the phenomenon of species richness and diversity in isolated natural communities. The theory, conceived by ecologists Robert H. MacArthur and E.O. Wilson in the 1960’s, proposes that immigration and extinction determine the number of species in an island habitat and that\u00a0surviving immigrant species may follow different evolutionary routes due (primarily or in part) to the new biological environments they find themselves in. A famous example is Darwinian Finches of the Galapagos Islands.<\/p>\n

This phenomenon is expressed beautifully on many of the thousands of islands of the Pacific and we have found Taiwan a most excellent location to consider it while enjoying the fabulous birds and other wildlife there.<\/p>\n

The 2014 checklist from the Bird Records Committee of the Wild Bird Federation of China accepts that Taiwan (at less than 1\/10th the size of California), has recorded 626 bird species, 20 of which are endemics. (Continental California has 1 endemic or 2 if you count the Island Scrub Jay). By Asian Island standards that is not all that impressive – neighboring Philippines with their many tiny islets boasts over 200 endemics – and growing! What is impressive however is the “absolutely gorgeous” factor of many of these birds and the relative ease of seeing them while simultaneously experiencing a fascinating culture, both ancient and ultra-modern. On a reconnaissance visit in March of 2015 to prepare for The Golden Gate Audubon Society “Birding Formosa” tour (see “Birding Formosa” October 2015 in Mega Trips) we detected all but one of the Taiwan endemic birds and most of the 56 endemic sub-species.<\/p>\n

\"Swinhoe<\/a>
Swinhoe\u2019s Pheasant (Lophura swinhoii) are one of the many absolutely gorgeous birds found nowhere else but Taiwan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Common names of uncommonly beautiful birds:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As on many other islands, the common names of Taiwan’s endemic birds are often simply preceded by the current island name itself as in the Taiwan… Partridge, Barbet, Cupwing, Bush-Warbler, Fulvetta, Yuhina, Hwamei, Barwing and last in order but not least, the ultra-rosy “Taiwan Rosefinch” a.k.a. “Rosyfinch”.<\/p>\n

\"Variously<\/a>
Variously referred to as Vinaceous, Formosan or Taiwan Rosefinch (Carpodacus vinaceus) the happy sounding “Rosyfinch” inhabits high elevation (2-3.5K m) bamboo thickets and forest edge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Taiwan Barwing (Actinodura morrisoniana) is one of the specialties of the high country in Taiwan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"An<\/a>
An elusive endemic confined to Taiwan’s central mountains (above 1200m) is the \u00a0sweet singing Taiwan Bush Warbler (Bradypterus alishanensis). One of about a dozen East Asian Bush Warblers – all classic LBJs (Little Brown Jobs).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"On<\/a>
One of the most common birds in the 1500 – 2500 m hill forests is the tit-like Taiwan Yuhina (Yuhina brunneiceps).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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In some cases, the popular former name bestowed on this lovely sub-tropical locale by early Portuguese Sailors “Isla Formosa”, meaning the “beautiful island” is used, as in: the sweet singing Formosan Whistling Thrush or the fabulously blue Formosan Magpie.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An endemic Formosan Magpie (urocissa caerulea) searches for food in a grassy area at the Huisun Forest Reserve<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third name:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is arguable that most, if not all isolated populations, of immigrant creatures are in the process of “speciation” (becoming a new species). \u00a0This speciation is due to the differences between the new environment they survive in as compared to the environment of their ancestral population. Given enough time, they evolve enough that they may no longer be selected (or even be able) to breed with members of their ancestral population. It may not take much: a slight change of song or a change in habitat preference may be enough for a male to not be selected by a female or, in rare cases, visa-versa. Of course the rate of these physiological\u00a0changes depend on a myriad of conditions and are linear in fashion. To help sort things out species without readily identifiable sub-populations (genetically or otherwise) are given a scientific binomial name. \u00a0This consists of the genus (often shared by other species with a common ancestor) and a species (specific) second name. Populations within a species who exhibit consistent morphological differences from other populations of the same species, generally as a result of geographical isolation, earn a third, or trinomial name, referred to as the sub-species name.<\/p>\n

One of the more entertaining, confusing and at times frustrating elements of assembling a list of birds you want to study or have detected on a trip is that not all authorities are in agreement at any one time as to what the common name should be or when a species deserves full species status or even sub-species designation. This is especially true of islands and other isolated populations. Scientific names are the most informative and for birding Taiwan we use multiple field and reference guides. Primary among the resources is the most recent designations listed by the Bird Records Committee of the Wild Bird Federation of China.<\/p>\n

Of course these rather academic differences (brain candy or annoyances depending on your perspective) tend to become distant when you are experiencing the bird up close and in real life. Here are a few photos of bird species from our most recent trip to Taiwan realizing the process of speciation:<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>
One of the 56 (or so) endemic bird sub-species, Coal Tit (Parus ater ptilosus) gathers nesting material in Amanshan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A very widespread species across the Holarctic, over 40 sub-species are recognized of the Winter Wren. The Taiwan endemic sub-species is Troglodytes troglodytes taivanus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Plumbeous<\/a>
Another endemic sub-species: Plumbeous Redstart (Rhyacornis fuliginosa affinis) are commonly seen hunting insects along mid to high elevation rivers and streams in Taiwan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Island or “Insular” Biogeography\u00a0is a theory and field of study that examines the phenomenon of species richness and diversity in isolated natural communities. The theory, conceived by ecologists Robert H. MacArthur and E.O. Wilson in the 1960’s, proposes that immigration and extinction determine the number of species in an island habitat and that\u00a0surviving immigrant species […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[27,26],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=959"}],"version-history":[{"count":66,"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1300,"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions\/1300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/naturetrip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}