Ecological Investigation Animals and Plants



Dragonflies Birds Amphibians Flowers Floating Plants Other Plants Animals from Outside
　

　　
           According to food chain, birds is one of the most common advanced animals in these wetlands ecology.  What we concern is not only the water and soil, but also the flying birds around these wetlands.
　
【I've seen two Black-browed barbets!】－by Chi-Lin and Jing-Jia

　　One day in December, Mr. Chang asked Yu Zih-Wen, Hoo Zhang-Hhui and me to catch three dragonfly nymphs in the wetlands because some parents don't know their appearance. As it's hard to find dragonfly nymphs in winter, we were not that lucky to find any of them. Therefore, we changed our plan to watch birds. We have found so many birds in a banyan at school, such as Russet Sparrow, Chinese bulbuls, Japanese White-eye and finally two beautiful  Black-browed  barbets!

We wondered what Black-browed barbets are, so we looked up some information about them.

Features：The  Black-browed barbet has a large body build, green plumage, and a multicolored neck of yellow, blue, red, black, and green. This has earned it the Chinese name of "Wu Se Bird," or literally, "five-colored bird." Muller's barbets have two thick black eyebrows over each eye; short, thick beaks, with the upper bill longer than the lower; a head that is quite large relative to other parts of their bodies; and whiskers. Their shorter tail feathers and wings make it difficult for the bird to fly. However, their green plumage and colorful necks make the perfect camouflage in the forests. The Muller's barbet is also called the "spotted monk of the forest" because of its colorful plumage and its calls, which sound like a Buddhist instrument known as a wooden fish.

 Habitat：Muller's barbets are a sub-species of bird endemic to Taiwan commonly found in broad-leaved forests, mixed forests, and in the middle and upper levels of secondary forests at altitudes of 2500m and below.

Offspring：Their breeding season is in the spring and summer, and they build their nests in the notches of decayed trees, with females typically laying a clutch of three to five shimmering eggs. The period from the brood, raising, to leaving the nest is estimated to be at least one month. Their breeding system is monogamous.

As they are monogamous, we guess these two barbets are lovely couple.

【Birds survey besides the wetlands】－Yi-Chen

　　Early in the morning, the teacher took us to watch birds in the schoolyard. He brought a telescope and a bird handbook, which we can know the species right away. He also reminded us to be as quietly as possible of scaring birds away. In order to do the survey more easily, our teacher also asked us to know more information about bird including the behavior of the species before watching.

We couldn't find any barbets today even there are barbets in our school. However, we still could see lots of birds in some banyans, such as Russet Sparrow, Chinese bulbuls, Japanese White-eye and sparrows. In the winter morning, there are lots of birds flying out of nests to hunt for food. The sound of birds' singing should easily fill our ears in the morning, especially in those undestroyed natural environment. Thus, we should try our best to protect the environment for those lovely creatures.

【Three stars in the city】－Jing-Jia

 　　Sparrows, Chinese bulbuls and Japanese White-eyes are very common birds in the city. That's why we call them as the three stars in the city. Sparrows are easy to be found in banyans in school. However, when we watched them by telescope, we found they are Russet Sparrows which are a bit different from sparrows.  Chinese bulbuls are active and a bit noisy. They like to perch in the trees, forests and villages. They feed on insects and seeds but also do harm to orchards , rice field and so forth. Another similar species in Taiwan is black-head bulbuls, which means by name they have  dark feather on their heads. Finally, White-eyes which are also called green-flute owing to the green feather are easy to seen in trees and on the roof in school. They are common resident in the area not only from lower altitude to level ground but also in southeastern China.

<The black and white birds over the sports field> by Yi-Kai
 　　We can see White Wagtail on the sports field almost everyday. They are eye-catching black and white. The dark part of male White Wagtails  are darker than the one of female White Wagtails. We are still looking for the nest of the couple we've found to see if we can see their babies.  We know that the young birds are not that dark but a little brown in a bird handbook.


【Bird Watching】by Zih-Wen
 　　Before watching birds, the teacher taught us how to use the sighting telescope. First, we went to the south gate of our school to watch birds. The two sparrows on the electric cord were really clear with the sighting telescope. After watching in the campus, we went out to the orchard. Black-crowned Night-Herons came firstly. They are very backward species and have brown with slight orange feather. The feather on their head is a bit blue.  Then, we saw a flock of Chinese bulbuls. Finally, we found a turtledove on the way back to school. We had a good time and also learned a lot from this bird watching activity. I've learned not only how to use sighting telescopes but also how to cherish the life in the nature.
　

【Bird Watching】by Yi-Kai
 　　After being taught how to use the sighting telescope by our teacher, we started the bird watching right away. As we were still new learners to the sighting telescope, we couldn't focus on the first group of barn swallows we saw. After practicing for several times, we started to watch birds outside the campus  in groups.
         We were lucky to see a Black-crowned Night-Herons at the beginning, so we believed that we would see more birds. That slow Black-crowned Night-Herons was easy to watch so that we can practice how to use the sighting telescope more. As we walked ahead, we met two sparrows, Chinese bulbuls and Russet sparrows. On the way back to school, it was me that brought the sighting telescope. It was really heavy!
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