Country/territory: Taiwan, China
IBA criteria met: A1 (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 893 hectares (8.93 km2)
Site description (2001 baseline)
Extent of this site: to the south is Ilan County Road 30; to the west is Han County Road 25; to the north is the Provincial Highway 7; and to the east is the Provincial Highway 2. This area contains the Dongshan River.
The area is also called Wushierjia (means 52 ha), because historically, the Ilan People once reclaimed and cultivated an area of about 52 ha here. Before the 1980s, the water channel of the Dongshan River twisted and turned, which made the drainage of the water from torrential rains of typhoons very difficult, and thus caused flooding disasters which created the freshwater wetlands nearby. Later, the dredging of the Dongshan River continued according to the Dredging Plan of Provincial Rivers. The Wushierjia Wetlands consists of the nearby paddy fields and the marshes formed from abandoned cultivated fields. Because of the abundant food resources and the location of the wetlands, each year, large numbers of the Scolopacidae, Charadriidae and waterfowl spend the winter here. All lands in this area are privately owned. Due to high costs of land acquisition and opposition from landowners, the government has found it difficult to establish a bird reserve in this area. Wushierjia Wetlands is located close to the Dongshan River Scenic Area. Integrating the two areas together would provide greater diversity in scenic spots for tourist activities and ecological education.
Key biodiversity
IBA Al criterion species: Black-faced Spoonbills
• BFS are frequent visitors to this area as they fly back and forth from the river mouth of the Lanyang River; a maximum of 5 birds was recorded in December 1999.
• Baikal Teal winters in mixed flocks with Green-winged Teal.
• Chinese Egret, Saunders’s Gull, and Spoon-billed Sandpiper have been recorded occasionally.
• There are abundant bird resources, with 206 species recorded. The best time to observe birds is between October and December, when large flocks of the Anatidae and Kentish Plover pass through on their way south.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Litzechien (Taiwan, China). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/litzechien-iba-taiwan-china on 23/12/2024.