"Bird Island" is set during World War II and the Japanese invasion of Bird Island, now known as Taiwan. It recounts the trails of the Tayachu, one of the seven aboriginal groups on the island, amidst the subsequent take over by the Chinese.

This gripping tale's narrator is Ouiq, an aboriginal man, raised by his guardian, Matsuta, a tyrannical Japanese soldier and scholar, and also father to Ouiq's twin brothers.

The story is recounted through Ouiq's voice, and displays his experiences with violence, death, and the loss of love. It also describes how war and its brutal realities shape, reshape and ultimately alters a people's existence, values and sacred beliefs. "Bird Island" peels the gnarled layers of war, exposing how both the conquered and the conquerors become victims of survival.