Birds found during
FONT Birding Tours 
in Japan 

 (late-fall & winter)

in November - December 2004 
& January - February 2005

List compiled by Armas Hill



Codes:

1:   November 29 - December 10, 2004
     on Honshu (hn)
     on Hokkaido (hk)
     on Kyushu (ky)
     on Amami (am)
     during the day-long ferry pelagic trip between Honshu & Hokkaido (pt)

     
2:  January 30 - February 17, 2005
     on Honshu (hn)
     on Hokkaido (hk)
     on Kyushu (ky)
     on Amami (am)
     on Okinawa (ok)
     during the day-long ferry pelagic trip between Honshu & Hokkaido (pt) 
       

 
(t): a globally threatened or rare species, designated by Birdlife International.
(t1): critical     (t2): endangered     (t3): vulnerable
(nt): a near-threatened species globally.
(i): introduced species.
 (e): endemic to Japan
(r/JA): rare in Japan
(h): heard only

Links:

Cumulative Lists of Birds during our Japan Tours

In the cumulative lists of birds, scientific names are given & subspecies are noted.

List of Japanese Mammals

A list of Mammals during our '04 & '05 Japan Winter Birding Tours follows the bird-list below.

List of Japanese Butterflies

Upcoming Tours in Japan


 Bird-List:
  1. Pacific Loon/Diver - 1:hk,pt  2:hn,hk,pt
  2. Little Grebe - 1:hn,ky,am  2:hn,ky
  3. Great Crested Grebe - 2:hn,pt
  4. Horned / Slavonian Grebe - 2:hn
  5. Eared / Black-necked Grebe - 2:hn
  6. Northern Fulmar - 1:pt  2:pt
  7. Streaked Shearwater - 1:pt 
  8. Short-tailed Shearwater - 1:pt
  9. Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel - 1:pt  2:pt
  10. Great Cormorant - 1:hn  2:hn
  11. Temminck's (or Japanese) Cormorant - 1:hk,ky,am,pt  2:hn,ky,am
  12. Pelagic Cormorant - 1:hk,pt  2:hk,pt
  13. Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1:ky  2:hn
  14. Striated Heron - 2:ok
  15. Cattle Egret - 1:ky,am  2:ky,ok
  16. Pacific (or Eastern) Reef Heron - 1:am  2:ky,ok
  17. Little Egret - 1:hn,ky,am  2:hn,ky,ok
  18. Intermediate Egret - 1:am,ok
  19. Great Egret - 1:hk,ky,am  2:hn,ky
  20. Grey Heron - 1:hn,ky,am  2:hn,ky,ok
  21. Black-faced Spoonbill (t2) (r/JA) - 1:am  2:ky,ok
  22. Mute Swan (i) - 1:hn
  23. Whooper Swan - 1:hk  2:hk
  24. Bean Goose - 2:hn
  25. Greater White-fronted Goose - 1:hk
  26. Greylag Goose - 1:hk
  27. Mandarin Duck - 1:ky  2:hn,ky
  28. Eurasian Wigeon - 1:hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky
  29. American Wigeon (r/JA) - 1:hk  2:ky
  30. Falcated Duck - 1:hk,ky  2:hk,hn
  31. Gadwall - 1:hk,ky  2:hn
  32. Eurasian/Common Teal - 1:hn,hk,ky  2:hn,ky
  33. Mallard - 1:hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky
  34. Spot-billed Duck - 1:hn,ky,am  2:hn,ky
  35. Northern Pintail - 1:hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ok
  36. Northern Shoveler - 1:hn,am  2:hn,hk,ok
  37. Red-crested Pochard (r/JA) - 2:hn
  38. Common Pochard - 1:hn  2:hn
  39. Tufted Duck - 1:hn,hk,ky  2:hn,hk
  40. Greater Scaup - 1:hk,ky  2:hn,hk
  41. Harlequin Duck - 1:hk  2:hk
  42. Long-tailed Duck - 1:hk  2:hk,pt
  43. Black/Common Scoter - 1:hk  2:hk,pt
  44. "Stejneger's" (has been part of White-winged) Scoter - 2:hk
      
  45. Common Goldeneye - 1:hk  2:hn,hk
  46. Smew - 1:hk  2:hn,hk
  47. Red-breasted Merganser - 1:hk  2:hn,hk
  48. Common Merganser / Goosander - 1:hk  2:hn,hk,
  49. Osprey - 1:ky,am  2:ky,am,ok
  50. Black (-eared) Kite - 1:hk,ky  2:hn,hk,ky
  51. White-tailed Eagle (nt) - 1:hk  2:hk
  52. Steller's Sea-Eagle (t3) - 1:hk  2:hk
  53. Eastern (or Asian) Marsh Harrier - 2:hn
  54. Japanese/Lesser Sparrowhawk - 1:am
  55. Eurasian/Northern Sparrowhawk - 1:hn,ky  2:hn
  56. Northern Goshawk - 1:hk  2:hn
  57. Grey-faced Buzzard - 1:am  2:am,ok 
  58. Common Buzzard - 1:hk,ky  2:hn,hk,ky
  59. Rough-legged Hawk/Buzzard - 2:hk
  60. Mountain (or Hodgson's) Hawk-Eagle - 2:ky
  61. Eurasian Kestrel - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky,am,ok
  62. Merlin - 2:hn
  63. Peregrine Falcon - 1:am  2:hn,ky,ok
  64. Gyrfalcon - 2:hk
  65. Chinese Bamboo Partridge (i) - 1:ky
  66. Copper Pheasant (nt) (e) - 1:ky
  67. Green Pheasant (e) - 1:ky(h)  2:ky
  68. Okinawa Rail (t2) (e) - 2:ok
  69. Swinhoe's/Asian Yellow Rail (t3) (r/JA) - 1:am
  70. Common Moorhen - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky,am,ok
  71. Eurasian/Common Coot - 1:ky  2:hn.ky
  72. Common Crane (r/JA) - 1:ky  2:ky
  73. Hooded Crane (t3) - 1:ky  2:ky
  74. Sandhill Crane (r/JA) - 1:ky  2:ky
  75. White-naped Crane (t3) - 1:ky  2:ky
  76. Red-crowned Crane (also called Japanese Crane or Manchurian Crane) (t2) - 1:hk  2:hk,ky  (Hokkaido birds resident: Japanese Cranes; Kyushu bird from mainland Asia: Manchurian Crane) 
  77. Demoiselle Crane (r/JA) - 2:ky
  78. Black-winged Stilt - 2:hn
  79. Long-billed Plover - 2:hn
  80. Little Ringed Plover - 1:am  2:ok
  81. (Common) Ringed Plover - 1:am
  82. Kentish Plover (called Snowy Plover in North America) - 1:am  2:hn,ky,ok
  83. Mongolian Plover (also called Lesser Sandplover) - 1:am
  84. Pacific Golden Plover - 1:am  2:ok
  85. Black-bellied (or Grey) Plover - 1:ky,am  2:hn
  86. Grey-headed Lapwing - 1:ky  2:hn
  87. (Ruddy) Turnstone - 1:am
  88. Northern Lapwing - 1:ky  2:hn,ky
  89. Sanderling - 2:hn
  90. Red-necked (or Rufous-necked) Stint - 1:am
  91. Dunlin - 1:ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky
  92. Bar-tailed Godwit - 2:ok
  93. Eurasian Curlew - 2:ok
  94. Far Eastern Curlew (nt) - 2:ok 
  95. Common Redshank - 2:ok
  96. Common Greenshank - 1:am  2:hn
  97. Green Sandpiper - 1:ky,am  2:ok
  98. Common Sandpiper - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky
  99. Grey-tailed (or Polynesian) Tattler - 1:am  2:ok
  100. Eurasian Woodcock - 1:am
  101. Amami Woodcock (t3) (e) - 1:am  2:am
  102. Common Snipe - 2:ok
  103. Pintail Snipe (r/JA) - 2:ok
  104. Red-necked Phalarope - 1:pt
  105. Pomarine Jaeger (or Pomarine Skua) - 1:pt
  106. Black-headed Gull - 1:hk,ky  1:hn,hk,
  107. Black-tailed Gull - 1:pt  2:hn,ky,ok,pt
  108. Kamchatka (race of the Common, or Mew, Gull) - 1:hk  2:hn,hk,pt
  109. Vega (race of the Herring) Gull - 1:hk,ky,pt  2:hn,hk,ky,pt
  110. Slaty-backed Gull - 1:hk,pt  2:hk,ky,pt
  111. Glaucous-winged Gull - 1:pt  2:hk,pt
  112. Glaucous Gull - 1:hk  2:hk
  113. (Black-legged) Kittiwake - 1:pt (abt 5,000)  2:pt
  114. Common Murre (or Guillemot) - 2:hk,pt
  115. Thick-billed Murre (or Brunnich's Guillemot) - 2:hk,pt
  116. Spectacled Guillemot - 2:hk
  117. Ancient Murrelet - 1:pt  2:hk,pt
  118. Rhinoceros Auklet - 1:pt
  119. Feral Pigeon (i) - 1:hn,hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky,am,ok
  120. Rufous (or Oriental) Turtle-Dove - 1:hn,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky,am,ok
  121. Japanese (or White-bellied) Green Pigeon - 2:ky
  122. Whistling (or Formosa) Green-Pigeon (nt) - 1:am  2:am,ok
  123. Japanese (or Black) Woodpigeon (nt) - 2:am(h)
  124. Oriental Scops-Owl - 1:am(h)
  125. Ryukyu (or Elegant) Scops-Owl (nt) - 1:am  2:am,ok
  126. Blakiston's Fish-Owl (t2) (r/JA) - 1:hk  2:hk
  127. Brown (or Oriental) Hawk-Owl - 1:am  2:am
  128. Short-eared Owl - 1:pt (seen offshore from north Honshu, flew by ferry)
  129. House Swift - 1:am
  130. Eurasian/Common Kingfisher - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky,ok
  131. Greater Pied (or Crested) Kingfisher - 1:ky  2:hn,ky
  132. Japanese Green Woodpecker (e) - 2:hn 
  133. Pryer's (or Okinawa) Woodpecker (t1) (e) - 2:ok
  134. Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1:hk  2:hn,hk
  135. "Owston's Woodpecker" (t2) (e) (has been part of White-backed Woodpecker) - 1:am  2:am
  136. (Japanese) Pygmy Woodpecker - 1:hn,hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk,am
  137. (Japanese) Skylark - 1:ky  2:ky
  138. (Barn) Swallow - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky
  139. Pacific Swallow - 1:am  2:am,ok
  140. Olive-backed (or Indian Tree) Pipit - 1:a  2:hn,ky
  141. (Siberian race of) Buff-bellied Pipit - 1:ky  2:hn,ky,am  (called American Pipit in North America, formerly called Water Pipit)
  142. Grey Wagtail - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky,am,ok
  143. Black-backed Wagtail - 1:hn,hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk.ky,am,ok
  144. Japanese Wagtail (e) - 1:hn,ky  2:hn,ky
  145. Ryukyu Minivet (e) - 1:am  2:am,ok
  146. Brown-eared Bulbul - 1:hn,hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky,am,ok
  147. Chinese (or Light-vented) Bulbul - 2:ok 
  148. Brown (or Pallas's) Dipper - 1:hk,ky  2:hn,hk,ky
  149. (Northern) Wren (called Winter Wren in North America) - 2:hn
  150. Japanese Accentor (e) - 2:hn  
  151. Ryukyu Robin (nt) (e) - 1:am  2:am,ok 
  152. Red-flanked Bluetail (also called Orange-flanked Bush-Robin) - 1:am  2:hn
  153. Daurian Redstart - 1:hn,ky,am  2:hn,ky
  154. Blue Rock Thrush - 1:ky,am  2:ky,am,ok (red-bellied form)
  155. White's Ground Thrush - 2:hn
  156. Amami Thrush (t1) (e) - 1:am (3 sightings, but 1 may have been White's (Ground) Thrush in passage)
  157. Japanese (Grey) Thrush - 1:am
  158. Brown Thrush - 1:ky,am  2:hn
  159. Pale Thrush - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky,am,ok
  160. Dusky Thrush - 1:ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky,am
  161. Naumann's Thrush - 2:am (has been considered part of Dusky Thrush) 
  162. Japanese Bush-Warbler - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky,am,ok
  163. Zitting Cisticola (has been called Fan-tailed Warbler) - 1:ky,am  2:ok
  164. Ijima's (Leaf-/Willow-) Warbler (t3) - 1:am  2:am
  165. Arctic Warbler - 1:am
  166. Goldcrest - 1:hn,hk
  167. Ryukyu Flycatcher (t2) (e) - 2:ok (has been part of Narcissus Flycatcher)
  168. Long-tailed Tit - 1:hn  2:hn
  169. Willow Tit - 2:hn,hk
  170. Marsh Tit - 1:hk  2:hk
  171. Varied Tit - 1:hn,hk,ky,am  2:hn,am 
  172. Coal Tit - 1:ky  2:hn
  173. Great Tit - 1:hn,hk,am  2:hn,hk,ky,am,ok
  174. Eurasian Nuthatch - 1:hk  2:hn,hk
  175. (Common) Treecreeper - 2:hk
  176. Chinese Penduline-Tit - 2:ky
  177. Japanese White-eye - 1:hn,am  2:hn,ky,am,ok
  178. Bull-headed Shrike - 1:ky,am  2:hn,ky,am
  179. Eurasian Jay - 2:hn,hk,ky
  180. Lidth's Jay (t3) (e) - 1:am  2:am
  181. Black-billed Magpie - 2:hk  (a recent arrival in Hokkaido)
  182. Rook - 1:ky,am  2:hn
  183. Carrion (or Eurasian) Crow - 1:hn,hk,ky  2:hn,hk,ky
  184. Large-billed Crow - 1:hn,hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky,am,ok
  185. Northern Raven - 1:hk(h)
  186. Grey (or White-cheeked) Starling - 1:hn,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky
  187. Russet (or Cinnamon) Sparrow - 1:ky
  188. Eurasian Tree Sparrow - 1:hn,hk,ky,am  2:hn,hk,ky,am,ok
  189. Brambling - 2:hn
  190. Oriental (or Grey-capped) Greenfinch - 1:hn,hk,ky  2:hn,hk,ky
  191. Eurasian Siskin - 1:am
  192. Common/Red Crossbill - 2:hn
  193. Asian Rosy Finch -  2:hk
  194. Pallas's (or Siberian) Rosefinch  (r/JA) - 2:hn 
  195. Long-tailed Rosefinch - 1:hk  2:hn
  196. (Common) Bullfinch - 2:hn
  197. Japanese Grosbeak - 2:hn 
  198. Hawfinch - 1:hn  2:hn
  199. (Japanese) Grey Bunting - 1:am  2:hn,ky,ok
  200. Black-faced Bunting - 1:hn,ky,am  2:hn,ky,am
  201. (Siberian) Meadow Bunting - 1:ky  2:hn,ky
  202. Grey-headed (or Chestnut-eared) Bunting - 1:ky  2:ky
  203. Yellow-throated Bunting - 1:ky,am  2:ky,am
  204. Rustic Bunting - 1:hk,ky  2:hn
  205. Reed Bunting - 1:hk,ky  2:hn,ky
     


 Mammals during FONT tours in Japan 
in November - December 2004 
& January -February  2005
 

am: on Amami
hk: on Hokkaido
hn: on Honshu
ky: on Kyushu
pt: during day-long ferry pelagic trip from Honshu to Hokkaido

(e): endemic to Japan
(i): introduced into Japan 


 1. Japanese Squirrel (e) - 2:hn

 2. Ryukyu Spiny Rat (also called Amami Spinous Mouse) (e) - 1:am  2:am

 3. Brown Rat (i) - 1:hk

 4. Red Fox - 1:hk  2:hk

 5. Japanese Marten - 1:ky

 6. Japanese Macaque - 2:hn (popularly called "Snow Monkey")

 7. Eurasian Wild Boar - 2:am (Ryukyu subspecies: Sus scrofa riukiuanus)  

 8. Sika Deer - 1:hk,ky  2:hk

 9. Kurile (has been considered part of Harbor) Seal - 2:hk

10. Steller's Sea-Lion - 2:hk

 11. Northern Fur Seal - 1:pt