Potteries Lazurite Beads Chiefains’Emblems
Headdress and Eagle Feather Spirits of Paiwan
In Paiwan Tribe Eagle Feather symbolizes power and dignitary. Only the family members of Chiefains can wear Eagle Feather. Eagle Feather is usually placed in front of crown to show the stateliness of the chiefains. Eagle Feather’s colorful pattern is similar to Hundred-step Snake Grain. If a tribal man killed an eagle, the feather shall be given to the chiefain.
Brief introduction of Taiwan’s rare animals-- Hodgson's Hawk Eagle
Hodgson's Hawk Eagles(Spizaetus nipalensis fokiensis) are limited to live in the forest on an altitude of 1500-2200 meters. They are the rare local birds living in Taiwan with a larger body size. The female Hodgson's Hawk Eagle is larger than the male, and their feather is super long with a black brown scruff and back, but its head, neck and chest are milk white. It has a corner-like feather crown across its belly that was covered with puce feather. The tail feather has dark color with 4-5 belts across veins. The leg feather is white with hazel across veins. Hodgson's Hawk Eagle is a kind of bird acts in the day and inhabits in bushy broadleaf forest or the mixture of forest of conifer and broadleaf. They hunt rat, squirrels, snakes and lizards by watching their activities on the top of trees and diving down rapidly to catch them.
There is lack of research and investigation about Hodgson's Hawk Eagles. Taitung Wild Bird Society was mandated by Taitung Forest District Office to investigate the distribution of Hodgson's Hawk Eagles. On 24th, the first data was revealed. The director of Taitung Wild Bird Society, Ce-jing Lin, points out that they found trace of Hodgson's Hawk Eagles in 12 towns including Hairui Township, Jinfeng Township, Daren Township, Peinan Township and Yanping Township, even including Dawu Mt. Natural Reserve and Shuanggui Lake Wild Animal Habitat.
According to Taitung Wild Bird Society, local tribes in Taiwan have the custom of wearing the flying feather of Hodgson's Hawk Eagles, and they regarded the eagle as miraculous species and believed it as the symbol of lofty status. Tribe people sell Hodgson's Hawk Eagles’ feather in their daily life and even in abundant-year fete fair. The price of Hodgson's Hawk Eagles’ feather is up to 3,000~16,000NT$. So somebody thinks that Hodgson's Hawk Eagles are still facing threat of being killed. (Taitung, China Times, April 25)
