It wasn't until the 1960s, when the Migratory Animal Pathological Survey program began to examine whether migrating birds were spreading communicable diseases, that ornithologists coming to Taiwan were startled to discover the island was a natural "island of birds" and started the first birdwatching group, sowing the seeds for birdwatching in Taiwan for the next 30-some years.
1960 年代，以研究遷移鳥類是否攜帶傳染性疾病的「東南亞遷徒性動物病理學調查（MAPS）」在台灣展開，才被來台鳥類學者驚為「鳥島」天成，而發起成立第一個賞鳥社團，播下了往後三十多年的台灣賞鳥種子。