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Rare Birds in Japan
during Focus On Nature Tours
A Summary compiled by Armas Hill
Codes:
(JPe): endemic to Japan
(JPeb): endemic Japanese breeder
Links:
Upcoming FONT Japan Birding & Nature Tours
FONT Past Japan Tour Highlights
A Japan Bird-List & Photo Gallery, Part 1. Pheasants to Pittas
A Japan Bird-List & Photo Gallery, Part 2, Minivets to Buntings
A List of Japanese Mammals (with some photos)
THERE HAVE BEEN 34 FONT BIRDING & NATURE TOURS IN JAPAN.
The following list & notes compiled & written by Armas Hill, who has led
FONT tour in Japan for nearly 20 years, and has himself birded in Japan for over 2
decades.
Classifications are those designated by Birdlife
International. The criteria for classifications follows the listing.
Japanese islands where the birds have been seen
during FONT tours are noted in
the listing below.
Species classified as:
Category #1: CRITICALLY THREATENED:
Siberian Crane ______ Kyushu
(during FONT winter
tours in 1997, 2000, 2001,& 2004)
Grus leucogeranus
The Siberian Crane is a rarity in Japan. On occasion (as during the 4 years noted
above), a single individual winters at Arasaki, on the southern Japanese island
of Kyushu, with the combined approximately 10,000 Hooded & White-naped
Cranes.
The Siberian Crane is now classified as "critical" because it is
expected to undergo an extremely rapid decline in the near future, primarily as
a result of the destruction and degradation of wetlands in the areas of its
migration and wintering grounds. The wintering site, holding 95% of the
population, in China, is threatened by changes that will come about with the
Three Gorges Dam project.
The total population of the species is between 2,500 & 3,000, making it, at
this time, the 3rd rarest crane in the world.
The Siberian Crane is a large, white bird with black on its wings, is (as noted above), at this
time, the third rarest crane in the world (after the Whooping and the
Red-crowned Cranes).
It is probably, at this time, the most threatened of the world's cranes.
Until just over 20 years ago, in 1981, the Siberian Crane was believed to be
even more rare, and endangered. It was in that year that about 800 birds were
discovered to be wintering at Lake Poyan, China's largest freshwater lake, along
the Yangtze River. With that, the known population nearly doubled. Subsequent
field surveys showed the total population of the species to be from 2,500 to
3,000 birds.
Still the outlook for the species is precarious. According to the crane
specialist, George Archibald, "from the tundra to the subtropics, few
endangered species involve so many complex problems in so many countries as does
the Siberian Crane".
There are 3 populations of Siberian Cranes. All but a few of the maybe 3,000
birds belong to the eastern population, which breeds in northeastern Siberia,
and winters along the Yangtze River in China.
Another very small central population breeds in the lower basin of the Kunovat
River in western Siberia, and winters in the Indian state of Rajaasthan (most
regularly in the Keoladeo National Park). When this population was observed at
its wintering grounds in 1992-93, it included just 5 birds. Only 4 birds were
observed at the Kunovat breeding grounds in 1995.
The western population (also very small and threatened), which apparently held at 8 to 14 birds in the late 1980's and early 1990's, has wintered at a single site along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea in Iran. The exact location of the breeding grounds of that population is unknown, but it's thought to be in the extreme northern portion of European Russia.
Thus, 2 populations of this species are extremely vulnerable (on the verge of extinction). These populations have continually declined from just over 100 birds in the 1960's (when they were discovered).
The Siberian Cranes that have occurred in Japan as vagrants have been
wanderers, on occasion, from the larger eastern population of the species that
normally winters in China.
Actually, in the past, the Siberian Crane was a common winter visitor in Japan
on Kyushu prior to the Mejii Era. Throughout the 20th Century, it became an
accidental, but there were some occurrences from Hokkaido south to Okinawa. Most
in Japan, however, continued to be on Kyushu. Interestingly, there were single
birds in Hokkaido in Oct-Dec 1977 and May-Sep 1985. The latter was a summering
bird in the Kushiro district, where the resident Japanese population of
Red-crowned Cranes reside.
Where Siberian Cranes breed, huge distances separate nesting pairs. Within each 1000 square kilometers in the breeding range, there are only 1 or 2 pairs of cranes.
The Siberian is the most aquatic of all cranes, exclusively using wetlands for nesting, feeding, and roosting. The nests are in bogs and marshes. In migration and in wintering areas, the bird prefers to feed and roost in shallow wetlands. Preferred foods are roots, sprouts, and stems of sedges and other aquatic plants. It seldom forages above the water line.
Pryer's Woodpecker
(also called Okinawa Woodpecker) (JPe)
______ Okinawa
(spring, summer & winter tours)
Dendrocopos
(formerly Sapheopipo) noguchii
The Pryer's Woodpecker was considered close to extinction in the 1930's. Population estimates since
1950 have ranged from 40 to 200 birds, with the most recent estimate being of 90
birds. This species has been found during every FONT tour in Okinawa.
Amami Thrush (JPe) ______ Amami
(spring & winter
tours)
Zoothera major
In the mid-1990's, the breeding population of the Amami Thrush was estimated as being about
60 birds. The similar White's Thrush is smaller.
The Amami Thrush has a cheerful
song, delivered mostly in the morning, and similar to that of the Siberian
Thrush, another Zoothera species. The White's Thrush has a more mournful song
delivered mostly at night.
The Amami Thrush, found only on that island, is
confined to mature (over 60 years old), subtropical, evergreen forest, at an
altitude of 100 to 400 meters. It is a shy bird.
Category #2: ENDANGERED:
Oriental Stork ______ Kyushu
(during 2 FONT winter
tours, very rare in Japan)
Ciconia boyciana
With a total population of about 2,500 birds, the Oriental Stork breeds only in
the Amur and Ussuri basins (along the border of Siberia and China), and winters,
mainly, in eastern & southern China.
Crested Ibis ______
Nipponia nippon
Late one afternoon, during the May 2010 FONT tour, near the city of Kanazawa, on Honshu, we went to a museum to see what was to be a most interesting exhibit about a bird, known in Japanese as the "Toki". Its English name is the Crested Ibis. Its scientific name is Nipponia nippon. "Nippon" means "Japan".
The Crested Ibis is one of the rarest of the world's birds. A few decades ago it seriously flirted with extinction.
When I began birding in
Japan in the early 1980s, my bird book, and nearly the only one available in
English, was "A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan" published by the
Wild Bird Society of Japan, with its second and last printing in English in
1983.
On the cover of that book was a color illustration of two Tokis,
or Japanese Crested Ibises, in
flight. I've never forgotten that cover illustration! And, yes, I have hoped to
somehow one day to see the bird!
Crested Ibis
In the text of that
"Field Guide to the Birds of Japan", regarding the Japanese
Crested Ibis (as it was called then), it was
stated:
"In 1981 all 5 wild birds (remaining in Japan) were captured on Sado
Island for cage breeding. In 1982, 1 male and 3 females were still alive in
cages on Sado. In 1981, 7 (wild) birds were found in (a remote part of central)
China." (Those 7 birds in China were 4 adults and 3 chicks.)
At the Crested
Ibis exhibit we visited in the Kanazawa museum, there
was a map on the wall showing what had been the distribution of the bird in
Japan. It struck me as quite interesting that historically a center of abundance
had been the picturesque Noto Peninsula where we had birded the previous day.
The birds, when there, favored rice paddies where they fed on frogs.
If, by some quirk, we had seen a Crested Ibis,
an ultimate rarity, when there, it would have made our rare Chinese Egret
that we had seen a few years previously in a rice field, "abundant" by
comparison!
Sado Island, by the way, the last home of the Japanese Crested Ibis
in Japan, is not far, really, as a bird would fly, from
the north end of the Noto Peninsula where we visited a lighthouse.
Also on the wall in the Kanazwa museum, there was a series of photographs, all taken about 3 to 4 weeks before our visit. In one of the photos, there was a baby Crested Ibis that had just been born in captivity.
In a newspaper, just before we left Japan, there was the not-so-good news that Crested Ibises that had been released into the wild on Sado Island, had, once again in 2010, failed to breed. Four pairs had laid eggs there in the spring of 2010. Ultimately, all of the nests were abandoned. Disturbance by crows seemed to be a significant factor. If the Crested Ibises on Sado had bred, it would have been the first successful breeding in the wild of that species in Japan in 34 years.
Some good news, however, is
that the population of Crested Ibises in China
has been steadily increasing. For the past 23 years, since when only 7
individuals were found, China has bred and protected the species.
By June 2002, the wild population in China numbered 140 birds, and the captive
population there in 2 breeding centers was about 130 birds.
The most recent population estimate in China is of about 500 individuals.
In Japan, the Crested Ibis historically, in the early 19th Century, was common and widespread. In the late 19th Century and through much of the 20th Century, it declined drastically.
As recently as the mid-20th Century, there were two wild populations of Crested Ibises on the Noto Peninsula. One group there, in 1957, consisted of 14 birds. By 1961, it was down to 3. It nested there for the last time in 1962. In 1964, a single bird remained, which was later to be moved to captivity on Sado Island in 1969.
On Sado Island, there were 27 wild Crested Ibises in 1941. The following decade, in 1957, there were only 11. The decline there continued until, as noted, the species became extinct in the wild in Japan in 1981.
Since 1985, Crested
Ibises from China have been transferred to Japan for
captive breeding.
Over 100 individuals are now in captivity, with some in zoos, and about 30 (that
is 29) at the Japanese Crested Ibis Preservation Center on Sado Island.
In September 2008, that center released 10 of the birds as part of its Crested
Ibis restoration program, which aims to have 60 ibises in the wild by 2015.
Hopefully, toward that end, the breeding success in Japan will improve, so there
would be a growing Japanese population as there has been in China.
Black-faced Spoonbill ______ Honshu,
Kyushu, Amami, Okinawa (winter tours)
Platalea minor
The global population of the Black-faced Spoonbill is estimated as being about only 700 birds. It
breeds on small islands off the west coast of Korea, and in one province of
eastern China. It winters from southern Japan south to Taiwan, Hong Kong
(China), and Vietnam.
Red-crowned Crane ______
Hokkaido ("Japanese Crane")
(spring & winter tours), Kyushu ("Manchurian Crane")
(during 1 FONT winter tour)
Grus japonensis
The Red-crowned Crane is the 2nd rarest crane in the world (after the
Whooping Crane of North
America). The total population in the wild has been recently estimated as
between 1,700 & 2,000 birds.
There is a resident population on Japan's northern island, Hokkaido (in the
southeast portion of that island). That is the only place in Japan where the
species normally occurs. At one time, it bred on all 4 of the main Japanese
islands, but it declined dramatically in Japan in the 19th Century. By 1890, it
remained in Japan only in Hokkaido.
In the 1920's, the total Japanese population was only about 20 individuals.
Since then, the number in Hokkaido, due to protection and artificial feeding (in
the winter), has increased to over 1,000 birds.
At the time of the first FONT tour in Japan, in 1993, there were 569 resident
Red-crowned Cranes in Japan on Hokkaido. Just over a decade earlier
(when Armas
Hill made his first visit to Hokkaido to see the
Japanese, or
Red-crowned, Cranes), there were 281. The following list shows how the population has changed
(increased) in Japan since then.
THE POPULATION OF RED-CROWNED CRANES IN HOKKAIDO DURING THE LAST 3 DECADES:
1980 - 251
1981 - 277
1982 - 309
1983 - 333
1984 - 339
1985 - 383
1986 - 421
1987 - 390
1988 - 416
1989 - 463
1990 - 453
1991 - 505
1992 - 522
1993 - 569
1994 - number not available
1995 - 600
1996 - 619
1997 - 615
1998 - 706
1999 - 740
2000 - 771
2001 - 887
2002 - 898
2003 - 948
2004 - 1,003
2005 - 1,081
2006 - 1,013
2007 - 1,200
2008 - 1,280
There's a migratory population of the Red-crowned Crane on continental Asia in northeast China, eastern Siberia, and Mongolia. It winters in
eastern China and Korea. In 2004, that population was determined to be
between 1400 and 1600 birds.
One of these
Red-crowned Cranes (a
"Manchurian Crane", rather than a
"Japanese Crane"), an immature bird, was seen on Kyushu (with
White-naped
Cranes &
Hooded Cranes) during the FONT February 2005 tour. It was the first such
occurrence of a Red-crowned Crane there in 37 years!
Blakiston's Fish Owl ______ Hokkaido
(where it has been
seen during FONT late-fall & winter tours; there have been 21 such tours)
Bubo
(formerly Ketupa) b. blakistoni
This large and very rare Blakiston's Fish Owl occurs in southeastern Siberia (where there
may be a few hundred birds), China (where there may be up to a hundred birds),
and in central & eastern Hokkaido in Japan (where there's an estimated 120
birds). Its total population may thus be only in the hundreds, less than a
thousand birds.
Blakiston's Fish-Owl, Hokkaido, Japan
This bird is as extraordinary and formidable as any owl in the world. The
Blakiston's Fish Owl (as it has traditionally been called) is huge, with a
wingspan of about 6 and a half feet. It's larger than the Eagle Owl of Siberia.
Its legs are fully feathered. Its toes are bristly as are those of other fish
owls. It's interesting that structurally the Blakiston's Fish Owl has features
of both the "fish owls" (genus Ketupa) and the "eagle owls"
(genus Bubo).
In addition to Hokkaido, Japan, the species occurs only in far-eastern Siberia
(including Sakhalin and the southern Kurile Islands) and adjacent Manchuria, In
that area of mainland Asia, with a cold climate and severe winters, there may be
a few hundred birds. They inhabit dense, dark, primeval forests, either
coniferous, deciduous, or mixed, bordering lakes, rivers, and even the ocean
shore. They live in cold and difficult places for birds that eat mostly fish.
On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido (a place where winters can
also be severe), Blakiston's Fish Owls are seriously endangered, confined to
relict areas of undisturbed forest. In 1983, less than 30 birds were recorded.
The following year, as survey workers gained more confidence of those guarding
secret locations, some 50 birds were located. During that year, 1984, however,
only 2 pairs were known to have bred successfully. Since then, in Hokkaido, with
successful nest box schemes in the forest, there has been some improvement in
nesting productivity. In the wild, nests are usually in large, hollow tress high
above the forest floor, but sometimes in decayed fallen trees closer to the
ground.
In the Siberian portion of the bird's range, Blakiston's Fish Owls have been
found at a density of 1 pair to every 7.5 to 9 miles of large river. In
Hokkaido, in all of the river valleys now occupied by owls, that figure is
less than 6 miles. Territories are occupied by birds for years. Individual owls
are so attached to their territories that a bird which loses its mate will
remain alone until another may arrive by chance.
Blakiston's Fish Owls are active throughout the night, as well as around dusk
and dawn. In the summer, they may do some hunting (to feed their young), during
lighter hours of the long summer days. In the winter, they're exclusively
nocturnal, emerging after sunset.
The territorial song is deep and resonant (although it does not travel as far as
that of the Eagle Owl). Males and females call together in duets.
Blakiston's Fish Owls, aptly, prefer fish as their primary food. In the late
summer, they feed on trout. In the autumn, they turn to salmon. Also, at times,
they eat: pike, catfish, burbot, and crayfish. In the spring, they live largely
on swarms of frogs that spawn in riverside marshes. Small mammals (such as hares
and martens) are also eaten, as well as an occasional duck, Hazel Hen, or
smaller bird. At some places, the owls feed along rocky seacoasts. Where they
exist in sufficient numbers (and that's not many places), they may gather during
the winter in small groups by openings in the river ice.
In Hokkaido, Japan, the Blakiston's Fish Owl, like the Brown Bear, was once held
in reverence. The fish-owl was known as "the god who defends the
village". Later, it suffered persecution, especially during the winter when
it was compelled to live close to openings in the ice, and, therefore, could
more easily be killed.
Today, under Japan's conservation laws, the Blakiston's Fish Owl is fully
protected.
Recently, the fish-owl in Japan is said to have suffered, ironically, from the
attention given to it by people who actually favor its protection and
well-being. This applies particularly to photographers (and there are many of
them in Japan) and other enthusiasts. There are some who don't realize the
damage they can cause the bird. Recent efforts to discourage them have included
trapping the owls and placing highly-reflective rings on their legs to make them
less attractive in flashlit photographs. It's become a matter of concern to
ornithologists that such "extreme methods" seem needed in order to
protect a bird that's on the verge of extinction in
Japan.
"Owston's
(or
Amami)
Woodpecker" (JPe) ______ Amami
(spring & winter
tours)
Dendrocopos
(formerly
Picoides)
(leucotos) owstoni
Endemic to Amami Island, the "Owston's Woodpecker" has traditionally been considered a
subspecies of the White-backed Woodpecker, as the largest and darkest race of
that wide-ranging species that occurs across the Palearctic. So distinctive is
this Amami resident, however, it may well be determined to be a full species.
Category #3: VULNERABLE:
Short-tailed Albatross
(has also been called Steller's Albatross) (JPeb) ______
pelagically,
off Honshu (during FONT spring & winter tours
seen twice, both times in 2000 - early January & early June)
Phoebastria albatrus
The Short-tailed Albatross has a very small population, and a breeding range limited to 2
Japanese islands. Recent conservation efforts have resulted in a gradual
population increase.
It is one of the rarest of the world's albatrosses, having recently flirted
with extinction. It was formerly abundant in the North Pacific.
The species bred
on at least 11 small Japanese islands (in the Bonin, Izu, and Ryukyu (Nansei
Shoto) groups). Away from its breeding sites, the bird has had on the open
ocean,
a
widespread range, from Japan east to the Bering Sea and the west coast of North
America. (Most of the records off Alaska, Canada, and the west coast of the
mainland US have been during June-November. The species was formerly common
along the western North American coast.)
The Short-tailed Albatross was brought to the verge of extinction during the
late 19th and early 20th Centuries by plume hunters. The feathers were used for
stuffing quilts and pillows.
Another factor in the decline was habitat
disturbance on islands where the birds bred, particularly on Torishima (one of
the Izu Islands, 580 kilometers south of Tokyo). For years, it was only on the
volcanic ash slopes of that island that the species was known to breed.
Torishima was settled by humans in 1887. Until about 1900, from 10 to 50 people
lived there. The tame albatrosses were easily killed, as many as 100 to 200 a
day, up to 5 million birds in 12 years. In 1902, a major volcanic eruption on
the island killed many of the human inhabitants. The albatross population was
severely reduced, primarily by the slaughter of the birds, and secondarily by
the volcanic activity. In 1929, only about 2.000 birds remained on Torishima.
People who then recolonized the island conducted what would be the last great
massacre of the bird (nearly the entire remaining population of the species). By
1934, the Short-tailed Albatross was thought to be extinct.
Miraculously, in the early 1950's, 8 to 10 albatrosses appeared on Torishima.
As immature birds, over the years, they had been wandering the seas. During that
decade, numbers varied from 20 to 30.
In 1958, on Torishima, there were only 14
or 15 adults, 5 to 7 immatures, and 8 chicks.
Since then, there's been a slow
but steady increase in the population of the bird, with Torishima, most of the
time, the only known breeding location for the species in the world.
In 1960, all of the chicks (6 of them) were found killed. Only 22 adult birds
were found. But during the 1960's, the population began to rise more substantially to
over 50 birds.
In the 1970's it was to over 60. By 1979, the count was 95 birds
(& 22 chicks).
In March 1981, there were about 130 birds (& 34 chicks).
In November 1981, 63 eggs were found. In March 1982, there 21 chicks with about
140 adults and subadults.
The total population figures following 1979 were based
on observations at Torishima together with estimates of non-breeders away from
the colony. Thus, in 1982, the world population of the species was said to be
about 250 birds. Since 1979, over 50 eggs have been laid annually.
In 1991, the population had risen to about 500 birds. Since then it has
increased further. The rate of increase has been about 7% per year. Thus, the
population doubled in 10 years. Breeding success improved with grass transplantation to
stabilize nesting areas. Still, however, the population remains rather
vulnerable due to the volcanic nature of Torishima.
During recent years, the Short-tailed Albatross has also been at a Japanese
island other than Torishima. It's been on the southerly island of Minami-kojima
(one of the Senkaku Islands). 12 adult birds were found there in 1971. Breeding
was not confirmed there until 1988. A population of 75 birds was estimated there
in 1991 (among them 15 breeding pairs). Since then, about 100 birds have been at
the island.
In the central Pacific, at Midway Atoll (in Hawaii), 1 or 2 Short-tailed
Albatrosses were present during the last 2 decades of the 20th Century. An
incubating bird was found there in 1993, but the egg was abandoned.
At the Torishima, Japan, breeding colony, adult birds return in October. Eggs
are laid October-November. Young are fledged from May onwards.
The following text is from "The Birds of Japan: Their Status &
Distribution", by Oliver L. Austin Jr. & Nagahisa Kuroda, published in
1953, and written when the Short-tailed (or Steller's) Albatross was thought to
be extinct:
Diomedeidae
Diomedea albatrus (Pallas)
Steller's (Short-tailed) Albatross
Japanese name: Ahodori (meaning "fool bird")
This magnificent albatross is probably extinct. Its disappearance was caused
partly by the volcanic eruptions which destroyed its former nesting grounds on
Torishima, but primarily by the activities of the plume hunters of the late 19th
and the early 20th centuries. The most-recent definite record is the one for the
few birds banded on Torishima in 1933 and killed there in 1934 (cf. Austin
1949b: 283-295).
It formerly bred on Torishima in the southern Izu Islands, on the northernmost
of the Bonin Islands, and on isolated islets in the southern Ryukyus and the
Pescadores. Its nesting season was from November through April. After the young
were on the wing, the birds moved northward along the Japanese coast to summer
in the Bering Sea, and then down the west coast of North America as far as Baja
California, before returning to their breeding grounds in late autumn. The
spring flight past Japan was marked by the numbers of dark-colored immature
birds it contained, which could be confused with the Black-footed Albatross. The
immature Steller's differed from the adult Black-footed only by its larger size
and its lighter-colored bill, neither of which could be discerned at a far
distance. An adult Steller's could also be difficult, at a distance, to tell in
the field from the adult Laysan Albatross.
Black-footed Albatross ______ pelagically, off Honshu
(spring & winter tours)
Phoebastria nigripes
Breeds on the northwestern Hawaiian Islands (USA) and 3 outlying islands of
Japan. Colonies have disappeared on other Pacific islands. There was a near 20%
decline between 1995 & 2000.
Baikal Teal ______ Honshu, Kyushu
(FONT winter tours)
Anas formosa
The Baikal Teal has had, in recent years, a rapidly declining population. In the
early 20th Century, it was one of the most numerous ducks in eastern Asia, and
flocks of several thousand were regularly reported. Since the 1970's, there has
been a significant decline.
At least in part, this decline is thought to be due to excessive shooting or
netting in the bird's wintering range and along its migration routes. The bird
has had a habit of gathering in large dense flocks, and making predictable daily
movements. There's an account of about 50,000 birds being netted during 20 days
by 3 hunters in Japan in 1947.
In South Korea, in the early 1990's, there were, at 2 locations, about 20,000
and 30,000 birds.
In Japan, during the last 50 years, the Baikal Teal has decreased from a status
of abundant in the winter to that of being
uncommon.
The species breeds in river basins in northern & northeastern Siberia. The
male is an exquisitely-patterned bird.
Scaly-sided Merganser ______
Honshu
(during 2 FONT winter tours)
Mergus squamatus
This Scaly-sided Merganser has a small and declining population. Its total population is estimated as between
3,500 and 4,500 individuals. Most breed in southeastern Siberia, in Khabarovsk
and Primorye. The breeding
population in China (in the northeastern Manchurian region of Heilungkiang) is estimated as 200 to 250 pairs, and
it is declining.
So, the Scaly-sided Merganser is a rare bird. And, overall, little is known
about it. The species is closely related to both the Common Merganser (or
Goosander) and the Red-breasted Merganser, with Its range overlapping with both
even during the breeding season.
The distribution within the nesting range is sparse, along fast-flowing rivers.
Territorial pairs occupy at least 4-kilometer stretches of rivers. Birds are
normally found in pairs, or in small family parties. If in groups, outside the
breeding season, the groups are small. The birds are shy and wary. Their flight
is fast and low.
Nests are in holes of old riverside trees. After nesting, the extent of
migration is uncertain. Some birds seem to go only to the lower reaches of the
rivers along which they bred (particularly those that flow from the eastern side
of the Sikote range in Siberia). Others have been recorded considerably further
away. There are old records of wintering birds in southwestern China. Also, the
bird has been recorded elsewhere in China (particularly in the valley of the
Yangtze), and in Korea, and more rarely in Japan, northern Vietnam, and northern
Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Outside the breeding season, the Scaly-sided Merganser can be encountered on
open lakes, but generally its preference is to be along rivers.
During the winter, the species is apparently rare, but regular, in Japan. It was
first discovered there in the mid-1980's. Also during that decade, the species
was found for the first time in Taiwan in winter.
Determining the population of this species has been difficult due to the
remoteness of the breeding range and the secretiveness of the bird. Surveys
conducted in Siberia, however, seem to have shown a considerable decrease since
the 1960's.
Steller's Sea Eagle ______ Hokkaido, Honshu
(seen
during FONT winter tours on Honshu twice, a rarity there;
apparently one bird two consecutive years) (during all FONT winter tours on
Hokkaido)
Haliacetus pelagicus
The total population of the Steller's Sea Eagle is estimated at about 5,000 birds and declining. Most
(more than half) of those birds winter in Hokkaido, Japan, and on the nearby
Kuril Islands.
Some birds, normally in the hundreds, winter further north on the Kamchatka
Peninsula and by the Sea of Okhotsk. Breeding is exclusively in southeastern
Siberia.
White-naped Crane ______ Kyushu
(winter tours)
Grus vipio
The elegant White-naped Crane breeds, for the most part, in wetlands in northeastern
China, at about 6 localities. Also, some breed in adjacent Mongolia, and a few
do so in Siberia. The total population of the species is estimated at about
5,000 individuals.
Arasaki, on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, is a very important
wintering site for the species. It is the only Japanese site for the bird.
In 1987, the count of White-naped Cranes at Arasaki was 1,225.
In
1992, just over 2,000 White-naped Cranes wintered there.
In 2000, there were
about 2,500.
We learned during our December 2007 tour that on November 24 that year, the
count of White-naped Cranes at Arasaki was 1,059.
White-naped Cranes in
Kyushu,
(photographed during a FONT Japan Tour)
Hooded Crane ______ Kyushu
(winter tours)
Grus monarcha
The Hooded Crane breeds in wetlands in 2 areas of central Siberia. A very few have
been known, since 1991, to breed in China.
It winters at a few localities in Japan, Korea, and eastern China.
The total population has been estimated, during recent years, from about 10,000
to 11,800 birds, having increased due to artificial feeding in the winter
(particularly at a prime wintering site, Arasaki, on the southern Japanese
island of Kyushu).
More than 80% of the world's Hooded Cranes spend the winter
at Arasaki.
In 1987, the count of Hooded Cranes at Arasaki was 6,848.
In 1992, nearly 9,000 birds were there.
On November 24, 2007, the count of Hooded Cranes at Arasaki was
10,973.
There is only 1 other
wintering locality in Japan: on the main island of Honshu, at Yashiro, with
about 100 birds there.
In Japan (& Korea), the species winters almost exclusively at feeding
stations and nearby agricultural fields.
The population of Hooded Cranes has fluctuated considerably since the 1920's. At
present, the number is probably as large as at any time since then.
Hooded
Crane in
Kyushu,
(photographed during a FONT Japan Tour)
Amami Woodcock (JPe) ______ Amami, Okinawa
(spring &
winter tours)
Scolopax mira
The Amami Woodcock was reported to be common
on the Japanese island of Amami in the mid-1980's, mostly on the western
half of the island. Numbers near Naze City (Amami) have, during recent years, declined
markedly.
The species is not restricted to Amami, but is now known to also occur on the
islands of Tokunoshima, Okinawa, and Tokashiki, all in the Nansei Shoto of
southern Japan.
The Amami Woodcock is said to lack a roding display (as had by the
Eurasian Woodcock). Instead, it is said to display on the ground. The bird
is generally in the forest.
Japanese Murrelet ______ Honshu (offshore)
(spring &
late-fall tours), Kyushu (winter tours)
Synthliboramphus wumizusume
The Japanese Murrelet is species has a small, rapidly declining population.
It is endemic to the warm current regions near central & southern Japan,
where it breeds on uninhabited islands. Notable breeding sites in Kyushu are the
islands of Biro-jima, Koya-jima, and Eboshi-jima. Breeding also occurs in the
Izu Islands of the Pacific, and on small islets off Honshu in the Sea of Japan.
After breeding, some birds move northward. They also winter along the coasts of
Honshu and Kyushu. In the Japanese name, "umisuzume" translates in
English to "sea sparrow". A Tree Sparrow is 14 centimeters long; a
Japanese Murrelet is 24 centimeters in length.
Ijima's (Leaf-) Warbler (JPe) ______ Amami
(winter
tours)
Phylioscopus ijimae
The Ijima's Warbler breeds on the Izu Islands, southeast
of mainland Japan, between Oshima and Aogashima, and winters, apparently, on the
Nansei Shoto islands. It has a small and fragmented population, and is
declining.
Marsh Grassbird (or
"Japanese Marsh Warbler")
______
Honshu (spring tours)
Megalurus p. pryeri
The Marsh Grassbird is known to breed at 6 locations on the
main Japanese island of Honshu. It probably also breeds in Heilongjiang and
Liaoning in China and at Lake Khanka in Siberia.
It is said to winter in
southern Japan, and in the Yangtze basin in China. The population in Japan is
estimated to be about 1,000 birds.
Yellow
(or
"Siebold's")
Bunting ______ Honshu,
including Hegura Island (spring
tours), Okinawa (during 1 FONT winter tour)
Emberiza sulphurata
The Japanese Bunting breeds only in Japan. It is thought to
winter mainly in the Philippines, although may winter in far-southern Japan (Nansei
Shoto) and in Taiwan. It is generally uncommon in its restricted breeding range
in Japan, and it believed to have declined significantly in the 20th Century.
Lidth's Jay (JPe) ______ Amami
(spring & winter tours)
Garrulus lidthi
The beautiful, colorful Lidth's Jay is not only endemic to Japan, but
endemic to the island of Amami and the
adjacent small island of Kakeroma-jima, in the Nansei Shoto islands. Its
population was estimated to be about 5,800 birds in the 1970's.
Some aspects of this bird's behavior are unusual for a jay. It is a habitual
cavity-nester, laying plain-colored eggs. And it has been observed using its
stout bill as a climbing aid in the manner of a parrot.
Category #4: NEAR-THREATENED:
White-tailed Eagle ______ Hokkaido
(spring & winter
tours) , Honshu (winter tours)
Haliaetus albicilla
The White-tailed Eagle occurs from Greenland &
Iceland east across Eurasia to eastern Siberia and Japan. The population has
been estimated as between 5,000 and 7,000 pairs, but the size of the Russian
population is poorly known.
In the western portion of the range, in Europe,
during the 19th Century and the first half of the 20th Century, numbers declined
dramatically.
An adult
White-tailed Eagle in Hokkaido
(photographed during a FONT Japan Tour)
Copper Pheasant (JPe) ______ Honshu
(spring & winter tours), Kyushu (spring & winter tours)
Syrmaticus soemmerringi
The Copper Pheasant is found on the Japanese islands of Honshu,
Shikoku, and Kyushu, in coniferous, broadleaved, and mixed forests. There are 6
subspecies. It was once quite common, but has declined substantially (due to,
among other things, hunting), and is now considered uncommon and difficult to
find.
Copper Pheasant,
found during FONT Japanese birding tours,
in the spring & winter on Honshu and Kyushu.
Eastern Curlew ______
Honshu (spring tours), Okinawa (winter tours)
Numenius madagascariensis
The Eurasian Curlew breeds in eastern Siberia in
bogs and wet meadows. The total population has recently been estimated at just
over 20,000, with about 19,000 wintering in Australia, with smaller numbers
doing so in the Philippines, and north to the Nansei Shoto islands of Japan. The
species occurs as a migrant in Japan in the spring and fall.
Black Wood Pigeon ______ Honshu (Hegura
Island) (during a spring tour),
Amami (spring & winter tours), Okinawa (spring & winter tours)
Columba j. janthina
The Black Wood Pigeon is an uncommon, local, and declining resident
in Japan, occurring on small islands off southern Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu,
and south through the Nansei Shoto islands to the Yaeyama islands. Also in
Japan, it occurs south through the Izu Islands to the Ogasawara and Iwo Islands.
Outside Japan, it occurs locally on small islands off the south coast of South
Korea (a bird seen on Hegura Island in the Sea of Japan, in the spring, was
probably of that population.
The species inhabits dense subtropical
forest and warm temperate evergreen broadleaf forest, with a strong dependency
on mature forest. It has declined in Okinawa during and since the 1980's due to
forestry activities. The subspecies C. j. nitens (which formerly occurred on the
Ogasawara and Iwo Islands) is now thought to be extinct.
Ryukyu Green
Pigeon (JPe) (when it was conspecific with what's now the
Taiwan Green Pigeon, it was called
Whistling Green Pigeon; it has also rather inappropriately been called
the
Red-capped Green Pigeon)
______ Amami, Okinawa
(spring & winter tours)
Amami, Okinawa
(spring & winter tours)
Treron
(formerly
Sphenurus) riukiuensis
The Ryukyu Green Pigeon is considered a small-island specialist. It
nests only on the Nansei Shoto islands of Japan.
A Ryukyu Green Pigeon on the island of Amami
(photographed during a FONT Japan Tour)
OTHER SPECIES OCCURRING IN JAPAN THAT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED
NEAR-THREATENED:
Mandarin Duck ______ Hokkaido (spring tours),
Honshu (spring & winter
tours), Kyushu (winter tours), Okinawa (during 1 winter tour)
Aix galericulata
Long-billed Plover ______ Honshu (spring & winter tours),
Kyushu, Amami (winter tours)
Charadrius placidus
Grey-headed Lapwing ______ Honshu (spring & winter tours),
Kyushu, Okinawa
(winter tours)
Vanellus cinereus
Ryukyu Robin ______
Amami, Okinawa (spring & winter tours)
Erithacus komadori
(with different subspecies on Amami & Okinawa)
0
Threatened Birds of the World (a Birdlife International publication), Lynx Edicions, 2000