Taiwan hosts an exceptionally rich and unique avifauna, with numerous endemic species that play a central role in the island’s ecosystems and cultural landscapes. Yet, despite global interest in bird diversity and the existence of extensive vernacular naming traditions elsewhere, the names of Taiwanese birds in Indigenous Formosan languages remain largely undocumented and difficult to access. Even for emblematic and common species such as the Taiwan Barbet (Psilopogon nuchalis), recovering their names in all Formosan languages is challenging. For some striking endemics such as the Collared Bush Warbler (Tarsiger johnstoniae), it seems impossible to retrieve any of their original names in local languages. This absence represents a missed opportunity not only for ethnobiological knowledge but also for linguistic and cultural revitalization.
This work aims to systematically document bird names across about fifteen Formosan languages, focusing on endemic and culturally salient species. By compiling names from dictionaries, ethnographic texts, oral sources, and fieldwork, we will create a multilingual ornitho-linguistic resource for Taiwan. Beyond language documentation, this resource will support comparative research on dialectal variation, language classification, and folk taxonomies, while providing insights into embedded ecological knowledge.
We use artificial intelligence techniques to aggregate and structure heterogeneous data from multiple languages (Mandarin, Taiwanese, Japanese, English, French, and Formosan languages), enabling more efficient systematic analysis through cross-lingual validation. The resulting database will serve researchers, educators, and the public, promoting deeper engagement with Taiwan’s natural heritage and Indigenous cultures. It may also provide material for community-driven language revitalization and support the development of sustainable eco-tourism initiatives that valorize local knowledge. By bridging field and computational linguistics on the one hand, and ornithology on the other, this work contributes to preserving endangered cultural heritage and biodiversity knowledge, and to reconnecting people, language, and landscape in one of the world’s most ecologically and linguistically diverse regions.