In wintery Kinmen, migrant birds create a different kind of snowscape
In wintery Kinmen, migrant birds create a different kind of snowscape
2026-01-12
Many Taiwanese are excited about the prospect of seeing snow in winter. Nearby Kinmen’s Yangming Lake, trees are powdered white. But this apparent snowscape has been created by droppings left by cormorants, which are migratory birds that winter in this southern outlying archipelago. Let’s find out more about this rare pseudo-snowscape.
As far as the eye can see, the treetops along this lake are blanketed in white, as if draped in a white veil. This misty snowscape is breathtaking. But how could it snow in Kinmen, which is at a low elevation and low latitude and where moisture is insufficient? People who see this are left scratching their heads.
Member of the public
It’s white and the entire scenery is beautiful, like a winter wonderland. It’s very rare and every time I see this, I find it spectacular.
Flocks of migratory birds circle overhead, foraging for food to get through the winter. What’s on the treetops isn’t snow, but rather droppings left by cormorants. Cormorants are large winter migratory birds that like to congregate in colonies. Every year starting in October, tens of thousands of cormorants migrate south to Kinmen to spend the winter, returning north the following March. Because Kinmen is the largest wintering ground for cormorants in East Asia, with tens of thousands wintering there, the sheer number of birds and their abundant droppings creates this unique spectacle.
Chen Chang-hsin
Kinmen wild bird association
Actually, this is their roosting ground. At around 7 a.m. they gradually head to the sea area between Xiamen and Kinmen to feed. Around 4 p.m., they start to slowly fly back to their roosting spots. What you are seeing on the trees is their droppings from when they land and roost.
This phenomenon isn’t unique to Kinmen. It’s also in the Aogu Wetlands and Forest Park in Dongshi in Chiayi County. Although it’s not real snow, it can still fool you from a distance and make you feel the romance of winter.
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#snow #bird #cormorant
金門雪景? 陽明湖畔"樹梢白了頭" 專家:候鳥鸕鶿排泄物
2026-01-12
一月寒流一波波來襲，掀起一股追雪潮，位在金門陽明湖，樹梢上跟著白了頭，不同的是，當地並沒有下雪。這一片的銀白雪景，全是每年10月到隔年3月，飛到金門過冬的候鳥「鸕鶿」留下的排泄物，由於數量龐大，遠遠望去就像下雪一般，形成獨特的"偽雪景"。
放眼望去，湖畔樹梢一片雪白，宛如披上白紗，靄靄雪景美不勝收，但低緯度、低海拔，加上水氣不足的金門，怎麼會下雪？民眾看了滿頭問號。
[[民眾]]
“是白色的，風景整個都很漂亮很像雪景。很稀奇，每次看都覺得很壯觀”
候鳥成群在空中盤旋、覓食過冬，原來樹梢上的不是雪，而是鸕鶿留下的排遺。「鸕鶿」是一種群聚的大型冬候鳥，每年10月開始，成千上萬的鸕鶿大軍，陸續南下飛抵金門過冬，隔年3月北返。由於金門是東亞最大的鸕鶿度冬地，避冬數量高達上萬隻，鳥多排泄物也很可觀，才會形成如此獨特景致。
[[金門縣野鳥學會理事長 陳長信]]
“其實這邊就是夜棲地，那白天大概七點的時候，牠們就陸續往我們廈門跟金門中間的海域，去做那個補食，到了晚上大概四點以後，就慢慢陸陸續續會飛回牠的那個夜棲地，你看到的樹上那些就是它停棲的時候，拉的那個大便。”
不只金門，嘉義縣東石鰲鼓濕地、也曾出現偽雪景，雖然不是真的雪，但遠遠看，還是能騙騙自己，感受一下冬天的浪漫。
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