📸 PhotoPhoto: 孫鋒 林 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Taiwan Hwamei
Garrulax taewanus (Taiwan Hwamei · タイワンガビチョウ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 The Taiwanese government protects it as a "Rare and Valuable Protected Wildlife" species, and it faces trapping pressure (Taiwan Water Resources Agency environmental education materials).
- 💡 Captive Chinese Hwameis released into the wild interbreed with the Taiwan Hwamei, causing a serious genetic introgression problem (Taiwan Water Resources Agency environmental education materials).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Taiwan Hwamei is an endemic hwamei living only in Taiwan, facing trapping pressure and hybridization issues with the Chinese Hwamei.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body is mainly yellowish-brown with dark brown vertical streaks, and its bill is yellow.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It mainly eats insects as well as plant seeds and fruits. It lives in forest edges and scrub from lowlands up to 1,000 m in elevation, and is more common east of Zengwen Reservoir.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List NT (2025) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22734473/154731694
- • IUCN Red List category NT — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 154731694
- • wikidata.org — Q716280
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Garrulax taewanus, Taipei 1.jpg
- • web.wra.gov.tw — News Content.aspx
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Jiekun He · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Garrulax canorus)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.