Owl takes up residence in Matsu’s crown at Miaoli templeStaff writer, with CNAA mountain scops owl recently flew into a temple in rural Miaoli County, delighting and then worrying staff as it remained perched on a Matsu statue's head for two nights and three days, before departing late yesterday. A temple custodian noticed the owl perched on top of Matsu's crown at about 2pm on Saturday, said the Quan Hua Temple, which is located on Lion's Head Mountain (獅頭山) in Miaoli's Nanjhuang Township (南庄). Temple staff did not disturb the owl, a protected species in Taiwan, as they thought it would fly away within a few hours, the temple said. A mountain scops owl perches on a Matsu statue's head at the Quan Hua Temple in Miaoli County in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the Quan Hua TempleHowever, as of yesterday afternoon, the owl remained in the temple, having only come down from Matsu's crown to the area in front of the idol once, temple chairman Huang Chin-yuan (黃錦源) said.

Source: Taipei Times January 27, 2026 12:16 UTC