Taipei: A black-faced spoonbill that was rehabilitated in Taiwan in January returned to the country last month by "hitching a ride" on Typhoon Krathon, which propelled it across the Taiwan Strait at speeds reaching 85 kilometers per hour, conservationists said. According to Focus Taiwan, the bird, dubbed "N83," was found in January suffering from botulism-induced paralysis in a fish pond in Tainan's Annan District. It was treated by Tzu Chi Animal Hospital and experts from the Tainan Bird Society, fitted with a tracking device, and released with several other rehabilitated spoonbills on January 26. The Bird Ecology Lab at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology monitored N83 via satellite. The lab, collaborating with a local renewable energy company since 2001, studies how spoonbill migration is affected by wind farms. GPS data showed N83 traveled to China's coast on March 21, continued north, and reached the breeding habitat in Korea by April 10. As winter approached, it flew south, arr iving on China's southeast coast on September 29. In a recent Facebook post, the Bird Ecology Lab highlighted how N83 managed to return to Taiwan on October 3 by utilizing winds from Typhoon Krathon.
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