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Every winter, black-faced spoonbills migrate to Taiwan’s coastal wetlands. There are only 7,746 black-faced spoonbills worldwide, and over 2,000 of them have visited Tainan for six consecutive years. The Tainan City Government encourages fish farmers to lower water levels and leave small fish when their ponds close for the winter, turning them into a buffet for birds and helping protect the black-faced spoonbill.

A flock of black-face spoonbills land in a fishpond in Tainan. They use their long beaks to catch small fish.

The black-faced spoonbill migrates to Taiwan’s wetlands every winter. There are currently 7,746 of the birds worldwide, and Taiwan has recorded over 4,000 of them, with over 2,000 seen in Tainan for six consecutive years.

Huang Yung-feng
Tainan city conservationist
There are 410 more in Tainan this year, with a total of over 2,700. They tend to eat for three to five days, with up to 100 birds coming at once.

Fishponds usually close in the winter, so the Tainan City Government started giving fish farmers NT$10,000 per hectare to lower their water levels and leave small fish, making their ponds ideal fishing grounds for birds. Nearly 60 farmers responded, turning over 180 hectares of ponds into a fish buffet.

Tu Sung-yi
Fish farmer
Most fish farmers would probably be willing, because our ponds normally close for the winter anyway. If it was better promoted, I think everyone would be even more willing.

Chu Chien-ming
Tainan city agriculture official
The largest area since we started in 2021 has been 207 hectares. We hope that after their harvest, fish farmers can leave small fish in their ponds to increase food sources for black-face spoonbills.

Thanks in part to conservation efforts by Tainan and its fish farmers, the International Union for Conservation of Nature now lists black-faced spoonbills as threatened rather than endangered. After eating their fill, these migratory birds begin their journey back north.

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