Huge flight of swallows makes racket, terrorizes pedestrians near Yuanli hospital｜Taiwan News

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Miaoli’s Yuanli Township has a street known for what locals call “golden rain.” But don’t be fooled—it’s not a nice as it sounds. It’s actually the natural result of having thousands of swallows flying above, scaring pedestrians away from walking underneath. Although Taipower moved the power line to the nearby hospital underground, the birds just moved to another one around 200 meters away, vexing everyone nearby with their endless chirping.

The air is dense with swooping birds, serving as a warning to pedestrians to stay away from the danger zone underneath.

Every evening, a huge flight of swallows gathers in the skies above Heping and Datong roads in Miaoli’s Yuanli Township, bringing their “golden rain” with them. Everyone passing by adopts the same posture: hand over head, walking briskly past.

Member of public
Living with swallows
They used to come from May to October, but they’re earlier this year. They arrived in February.

The residents are fed up. It’s not like they haven’t tried to do something about it. They even got Taipower to bury the power lines at the original danger zone in front of the hospital.

Hung Huang-chi
Yuanli Representative Council chair
Taipower agreed right away and there were no issues with the land. Construction is almost done now.

Although their perch was taken away, the swallows weren’t deterred—they just found another spot. If you zoom in on the scaffolding at the front of the hospital, you can see rows of birds standing like sentinels along a city wall. The only power line left at a nearby street corner has no spots left. The fruit vendors below have been driven mad by the droppings.

Fruit vendor
Annoyed by birds
They poop on your head. Look, we’re all wearing hats. I use bottle rockets to scare them away, but they always come back after a while.

Not even bottle rockets can drive away these thousands of swallows. So what’s so special about these 500 meters along Yuanli’s Heping Road?

Chang Wei
Miaoli forestry conservation chief
Some of them come because there’s a large drainage ditch nearby as a food source, so they’ll eat the small insects over there.

Local agriculture officials said the lights here attract insects, which are food for the swallows. Wherever there’s food, they’ll gather. The city has installed boards beneath their nests, but the problem of “golden rain” continues to frustrate the authorities and residents alike.

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