walking around the da’an forest park here in taipei, we saw a lot of people with their big cameras pointed at a little hole in a tree…

so i gathered up my courage and asked a grandpa standing there whether they were all birdwatching. he said “we’re waiting for the five color bird!”, and at my confusion, he picked up his phone and showed me pictures of the taiwan barbet… wow! 😍 we had heard its call before (a loud frog-like noise coming from the trees in the park), but the bird itself remained elusive. with some patience though, we were able to find it… and it is stunning!

most of the body is green and blends with the foliage, but the head and neck feature some really bright stripes of color, including 2 red dots just above the beak. and that call!

we haven’t even left the city and we’ve already seen a few other new birds… i had forgotten how exciting islands can be for birdwatching — even sparrows are a little different here! :)