Climbing the tree for a close-up look at this fledgling mountain hawk-eagle, the most powerful raptor in Taiwan, a team from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology has been trying to track down the elusive bird for years.
After numerous visits in the mountains of the northeastern county of Yilan, the team finally located a new nest and attached a satellite tag on the bird inside.
This lets us track the chick after it leaves the nest.
We can see its range of movement, the path it takes, and how well it survives after fledgling.
Native to the Central Mountain Range that stretches north to south in Taiwan, the mountain hawk-eagle has historically been a status symbol for some indigenous nations, mesmerizing people with its majestic build and feathers, which have a signature triangular pattern that disappears once it matures.
But as commercial demand for its feathers grows, its population has dwindled to around a thousand due to poaching and habitat loss.
That's why the team is keeping track of each of the tagged birds to learn more about how to protect the species.
These are the spots that it went to after we tagged it.
It’s moving around in the mountain valley.
Mountain hawk-eagles fly only about an hour a day, and their habitat sits deep in the mountains. As the team carries on the research, humans may learn how to be more respectful of the species and the space we share with it.