ENDANGERED BIRDS IN JAPAN: STORKS, ALBATROSSES, RAILS

ENDANGERED BIRDS IN JAPAN

Crested serpent eagle

Tufted puffins were once found all over Hokkaido. Now they have largely disappeared from the area because of fishing nets that ringed much of Hokkaido and strangled the birds. The short-tailed albatross has been nearly hunted to extinction. So too with the ezo-kuroten sable, a species native to Hokkaido.

Short-tailed albatross (Diomedea albatrus)
Red-faced cormorant (Phalacrocorax urile)
White stork (Ciconia ciconia boyciana, East Asiatic subspecies)
Japanese crested ibis (Nipponia nippon)
White-tailed sea-eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
Buzzard (Buteo buteo toyoshimai, Ogasawara islands subuspecies)
Buzzard (Buteo buteo oshiroi, (Daito islands subspecies)
Hodgson's hawk eagle (Spizaetus nipalensis orientalis, Japanese sub-species)

Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos japonica, Japanese subspecies)
Crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela perplexus, Ryukyu islands subspecies)
Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus japonicus, Japanese subspecies)
Japanese crane (Grus japonensis, Red-crowned crane)
Okinawa rail (Rallus okinawae)
Amami woodcock (Scolopax mira)
Guillemot, Common murre (Uria aalge inornata, Japanese sub-species)
Tufted puffin (Lunda cirrhata)
Japanese wood pigeon (Columba janthina stejnegeri, Yaeyama islands subspecies)

Japanese wood pigeon (Columba janthina nitens, Ogasawara and Iwo islands subspecies)
Emerald dove Chalcophaps indica yamashinai, Ryukyu islands subspecies)
Blakiston's fish owl (Ketupa blakistoni blakistoni, Japanese sub-species)
Pryer's woodpecker (Sapheopipo noguchii)
White-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos Ieucotos owstoni, Amami-oshima subuspecies)
Three-toed woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus inouyei, Japanese sub-species)
Fairy pitta (Pitta brachyura nympha, East Asiatic subspecies)
White's ground thrush (Turdus dauma amami, Amami-oshima subspecies)
Bonin islands honeyeater (Apalopteron familiare hahasima, Hahajima islands subspecies)
Oriental greenfinch (Carduelis sinica kittlitzi, Ogasawara and Iwo island subspecies)

1) Japanese ptarmigan are bred at three centers, including Omachi Alpine Museum in Nagano Prefecture; 2) Oriental white storks are bred and released at the Hyogo Park of Oriental White Stork; 3) Japanese wood pigeon are protected and bred at Ueno Zoo and Tama Zoological park; 4) Okinawa rail are protected and bred at a breeding facility in Okinawa Island. [Source: Fuyuki, Akira, Yomiuri Shimbun, October 17, 2016]

Storks in Japan

Oriental white storks were once common in Japan. Like cranes they are regarded as a symbol of good luck. They are two meters long and weigh up the five kilograms. They are also found in China and the Khabarovsk region of Russia. Storks are tall and heavy and have a thick black bill. They are sometimes seen foraging around rice paddies, feeding on loaches. crustaceans, crabs, frogs and insects. Their eggs incubate for a month Unlike species of stork found in Europe and Africa, Oriental white storks do not migrate.

The number of Oriental white storks declined as a result of hunting, loss of natural wetlands and the use of agrochemicals in paddy fields, which killed the off loach, the bird's main food, as well as dragonflies and aquatic insects, which it also eats. Being at the top of the food chain they consumed concentrated doses of agricultural chemicals eaten by their prey. Marshlands where they lived were altered by river straightening and concrete on river banks. By 1956, only 20 Oriental white stork were left. The bird s became extinct in the wild Japan in 1971. The last one in Japan died in May, 1971 after being attacked by a dog.

Oriental storks, also called white storks in Japan, have been designated by the Japanese government as special natural treasures and are now designated as an endangered species globally. There are only around 2,000 of them, all in the Far East. The Tokushima Prefectural Government has made effort to attract white storks flying to the prefecture to settle there. About 20 white storks flew to Tokushima in the mid 2010s, with one observed laying eggs in the city of Naruto. Tokushima plans to establish feeding sites by preparing a more eco-friendly environment. [Source: Jiji Press, January 8, 2017]

Return of Storks to Japan

Oriental white stork in Japan

The Hyogo Prefectural Homeland for Oriental White Stork, a 165-hectare, $35 million breeding center and park was set up near the city of Toyooka in Hyogo prefecture began artificially breeding Oriental white storks in 1965. The Japanese birds had levels of agrochemicals in their bodies and produced only unfertilized eggs. The programs was helped immeasurably by storks donated by the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. By 2005, there were 118 birds, all of which had been bred in captivity. They lived in fenced off areas and had their wings clipped so they wouldn't fly off. Nine storks from Japan’s captive breeding program were released in September 2005. The birds could catch fish for themselves in waterways. They were not trained per say but were given “an option to act a natural way.”

The stork project on Toyoka has been deemed success as many of the released birds managed to survive. Storks released by the facility behave differently. Some stay close to the center where they get free food. Others are more adventurous and venture far from the facility. The hope is to have a substantial number living in the wild in 2020. The project can not be deemed a complete success until released birds mate and produce offspring.

In May 2007, a white stork hatched in the wild for the first time in 43 years. The chick hatched from eggs laid by a 9-year-old female stork released into the wild in September 2006. The female had paired with a 7-year male with the two making a nest on a 12.5-meter-high nesting place set up by a civic group. Other storks had laid eggs but either they fell out the nest and were broken or did not hatch because they weren’t fertilized.

Breeding efforts like those in Hyogo began in two other areas of Japan in 2015. The Fukui Prefectural Government and the city of Noda, Chiba Prefecture, launched similar projects, aiming to use white storks as a symbol of restoring the nature to its former glory. As of 2017, Fukui had released four white storks and Noda five, and a total of eight lived in the wild at that time. Both governments say they plan to continue the projects. [Source: Jiji Press, January 8, 2017] . In the meantime Hyogo Prefecture’s Park for the Oriental White Stork in Toyooka launched a project to rebuild the population of wild white storks after it released 41 of the birds between 2005 and 2017. For outdoor nesting, the park installed towers with net plates of iron on top, in and outside of Hyogo Prefecture. ““White storks can now give birth and raise chicks in the wild in Toyooka,” Yasuo Ezaki, research head of the park, told Jiji Press. But they “eat about one kilogram of food a day. We need to increase populations of freshwater fish and other living things as feed.”

In July 2017, the number of Oriental storks reached 100, 12 years after such efforts began, the Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture said. They have been confirmed in the wild in 46 prefectures so far, or all except Akita. [Source: Jiji, Press, June 21, 2017]

Blakiston's Fish Owl

Blakiston's fish owl is the world's largest owl. Found in east half of Hokkaido and the Russian islands of Sakhalin, Kunashiri and Etorofu, it has a wing span of 1.8 meters and measures 70 centimeters in height and weighs four kilograms. The Ainu gave it many names and revered it as a guardian of villages and a god that cries at night and protects the country. The Japanese have traditional associated owls with happiness and good luck and are fond of buying owl ornaments.

Blakiston's fish owl is seriously endangered. There are about 130 birds living in Hokkaido. This is better than 1984, when there were 30 or 40. Naturalists hope the number will increase to 200 in the not too distant future. To help them they have built over 100 government-funded nesting boxes and handful of winter feeding stations, where naturalists leave out fish because the owls can not catch fish in frozen rivers. There are plans to make tree corridors to link forested areas together.

Reasons for the Blakiston's fish owl's decline include overfishing, cars, the loss of habitat thorough deforestation — particularly in old growth forests where the owls do best — and development — particularly the damming and draining rivers. The owls used to be found all over Hokkaido but their numbers began to fall in the late 19th and early 20th century when the old growth forests were cut down and the damming and channeling of rivers eliminated most of the large fish runs.

The Blakiston's fish owl is also known as the Blakiston's eagle owl. It is named after Thomas Wright Blakiston, a British businessman and amateur naturalist who lived in Hokkaido in the late 1800s, and ironically has as much to do with the bird’s demise as anyone. After bringing lumber equipment half way around the world to harvest timber in eastern Siberia he was denied permission to take the trees there in 1861 and instead came to Hokkaido where he hauled away timber from the island’s rich old-growth forests.

Rock Ptarmigans

Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta japonica, Lagopus mutus japonicus), female in Mount Sugoroku, Japan.

The rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta japonica) is a rarely-seen bird that lives in dwarf pine forests in elevations above 2,000 meter in mountainous areas of Hokkaido, where the snow is six meter deep in the winter. In the winter they fed on the tops of plants that pierce the snow. In the spring the males gather around pine mounds, where they hope to attract females with displays that involve making frog-like bellows and puffing out their chests. There population of rock ptarmigan is estimated to be around 2,000. Their habitat is so harsh that 80 percent of chicks are lost to cold or predators such as crows, ermines and civets. The areas they live in are so remote that scientists who study them have to be expert mountain climbers. Some places they live now can reached by tourists via cable cars.

In 2017, Jiji, Press reported: A Toyama zoo has succeeded in artificial incubation of two Japanese rock ptarmigan chicks, the first feat for the endangered bird in 19 years in Japan, the Environment Ministry said. “Japan thus made major progress toward the establishment of artificial breeding methods for the bird that will cover the full breeding cycle from egg laying, incubation to growth, officials said.They are both 6.5 centimeters long, with their estimated weights put at 15.6 grams and 17.1 grams. They seem to be in good health, but close attention is necessary because rock ptarmigan chicks are particularly vulnerable to illness in their first two weeks, the officials said. “Artificial breeding is considered a success only after babies grow,” said Yuji Ishihara, head of the zoo. “We have a lot of things we still don’t know, so we have even more difficult tasks ahead.” [Source: Jiji Press, June 18, 2017]

“The Toyama zoo breeds seven Japanese rock ptarmigans, including a female bird, that were raised from eggs collected in Mt. Norikura in Nagano Prefecture. The first mating was observed on May 13, 2017 and eggs were discovered later that month. The ministry started the artificial breeding project for the Japanese rock ptarmigan, designated as a special national treasure in the country, in 2015.

The nihon raicho is a type of rock ptarmigan indigenous to Japan, which has been designated a special national treasure. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun: “Nihon raicho live high up in mountainous areas of the Northern and Southern Japanese Alps. Though the population of the species stood at an estimated 3,000 in about 1985, the number is estimated to have decreased to 1,700 by 2009. This is likely to have resulted from the widening habitats of the birds’ natural predators, such as foxes and crows, due to climate change. Nihon raicho are classified as endangered on the ministry’s Red Data List of Endangered Species. [Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, August 8, 2014]

“The Omachi Alpine Museum in Nagano Prefecture began experimental breeding of the raicho in 1963, and increased its number of birds to 40 in the 1980s. However, all of them died due to infections and nutritional deficiencies. Lack of close cooperation between zoos across the nation made it unfeasible for the baby birds to be kept at separate facilities, even as they matured, due to risk of death. In 2014, the Environment Ministry and Toyama Municipal Family Park Zoo launched a project to breed the nihon raicho. “In the long term, the project aims to establish a cycle of stable breeding for the raicho at zoos and return more of them to the wild about 20 years from now.

Red-Crowned Cranes (Japanese Cranes)

Red-crowned cranes are the national bird of China and the largest birds in Japan. They are very important to both countries. Declared "special natural monuments," they inhabit parts of China, Siberia, Korea and eastern Hokkaido. They are known in Japanese as “tancho” (“red mountain”) and in English as the Japanese crane and the red-crowned crane. Many places and families across Japan have the word “tsuru,” or crane, in their names. Sources: Jennifer Ackerman, National Geographic, January 2003, Tsuneo Hayashida, National Geographic, October 1983]

Red-crowned cranes are the second rarest crane in the world. They can be found at the Amur River basin in eastern Russia and in southeastern Asia, including China and Japan. They are a migratory species that spend their springs and summers in the wetlands of temperate East Asia and their winters in the salt and freshwater marshes of China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula. A non-migratory population lives year-round in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island. [Source: Victoria DeCarlo, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Red-crowned cranes live in northern temperate areas with a climate similar to the northern U.S. and Europe. They can also be found in marshes and other wetlands as well as agricultural areas and nest and feed in marshes with deep water. This habitat preference is unusual for cranes; most of whom prefer shallow water. Red-crowned cranes only in areas with standing dead vegetation.

Okinawa Rail

The Okinawa rail (“yanbarukuina”) looks sort of like a blackbird but can only fly a little and has a bright orange beak and legs and whitish makings on its breast. Designated a national treasure, it is about 35 centimeters tall and weighs 400 to 500 grams. There are in danger of becoming extinct, primarily as a result of being preyed on by house cats and mongooses brought to Okinawa to prey on poisonous snakes. An increasing number are killed in traffic accidents. Recently, there have been reports that the birds have been killed by wild dogs.

The Okinawa rail only habitats the Yanbura region in the northern part of the main island Okinawa. It was only discovered in 1981.Each years its habitat shrinks as a result of development and predation by cats and mongooses. In 2004, residents and veterinarians set up a sanctuary for the bird. As part of an effort to save the birds, cats are registered and have a microchip planted them. If it is found that a cat has been abandoned its owner can be fined.

In 2016, the Japan News reported: rotective measures taken by the Environment Ministry and other entities have begun to produce tangible results and the population is returning to the number estimated when the bird was first discovered. In a 1985 survey, the population of Okinawa rails was estimated to be about 1,800. But as mongooses and cats that returned to the wild preyed on the birds, the population rapidly decreased. In 2005, the number was estimated at 1,000 or less, and the birds were threatened with extinction. [Source: Japan News, November 29, 2016]

“Mongooses are an alien species brought from India to Naha and its surrounding areas about 100 years ago to reduce venomous habu snakes. The number of mongooses has increased from dozens when first indroduced to tens of thousands. Mongooses are believed to have entered the Yanbaru area in the 1990s. The ministry and the Okinawa prefectural government launched a program to get rid of mongooses in 2000. They established 1.2-meter-tall fences along the southern edge of the Yanbaru district to prevent the animals from entering the area, as well as setting traps at various locations to capture them. With the decrease in the number of mongooses in the area, Okinawa rails began to increase in 2011. However, another major problem is traffic. The number of birds hit by vehicles increased, with 45 Okinawa rails killed on roads in 2012. To deal with this problem, fences have been set up along roads and noticeboards have been erected to alert drivers in an area where birds are frequently killed. As a result, no birds were killed there last year.

“The population of Okinawa rails was estimated at 1,720 in 2015, almost the same as when the bird was first discovered. In September 2016, he Yanbaru area was designated as a national park in September this year. The Environment Ministry is trying to increase the population of Okinawa rails through artificial breeding. It built a new facility to raise and propagate them in 2010, and there are now about 70 rails there. For the past three years, it has been releasing the birds raised at the facility into the wild. In 2016, it planned to release 10 birds.

Crested Ibises

Standing about 75 centimeters tall, crested ibises (Nipponia nippon) are beautiful birds with white feathers, a red or pink face and a black downward curving bill. Indigenous to Japan, Korea, eastern China and eastern Russia, they are wading birds that make their homes in rice paddies and marshes. Crested ibises are known as ‘toki’ in Japan. In Japanese, ‘toki-iro’ (toki-color) is the characteristic pink-ish hue seen as the ibis flies overhead. The scientific name "Nipponia nippon" comes from the Japanese name for Japan, "Nippon." [Source: William Severud, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Crested ibises are also known as Japanese crested ibises and Asian crested ibises. Designated one of the Japan's special natural treasures, they were common around the country in the Edo period (1603-1867). However, the number of the birds dramatically decreased because of overhunting, environmental problems and other reasons. At the beginning of the 20th century crested ibises were found in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the Russian Far East. About 1,400 crested ibises live in China today, up from seven in 1981. As of 2022, nearly 500 lived on Sado Island, Japan, where there were none in 2008. They now draw tourists and represent a rare conservation success story.

The crested ibis is stockier and has shorter legs than the egrets and herons commonly seen in Japan. In the autumn and winter their plumage turns a pinkish-peach "ibis color." They feed on a large variety of mud-dwelling creatures, particularly loaches. When crested ibises are ready to mate they secret a black substance which they rub on their feathers. In January 2010, birds with the gray feathers produced by the process were observed among the released birds.

Short-Tailed Albatross

short-tailed albatross

The short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) is the largest seabird in the Pacific. It has a wingspan of two to 2.5 meters and walks in a staggering manner on land. It is easily caught in part because it so large it can’t easily take off on level ground; usually it launches itself by leaping off a cliff. The Japanese used to called it “aho dori” (“stupid bird”). There used to be millions of short-tailed albatrosses but their numbers dwindled as they were hunted for their feathers, which were used for bedding and hats and clothes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For a time they were thought to be extinct. In recent years many albatrosses have been killed by long lines in Alaska. According to the Environment Ministry, there are 3,000 short-tailed albatrosses living in Japan.

Short-tailed albatross are also known as Steller's albatross. Although they are related to the other North Pacific albatrosses, it also exhibits behavioural and morphological links to the albatrosses of the Southern Ocean. There are two distinct subpopulations, one of which breeds on Torishima in the Izu islands south of Japan, and the other primarily on the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Short-tailed albatrosses are medium-sized albatross, with a wingspan of 2.15 to 2.30 meters (85–91 inches), a length of 84 to 94 centimeters (33–37 inches) and a body weight that can be 4.3 to 8.5 kilograms (9.5–18.7 pounds. The plumage of adults is white overall with black flight feathers, some coverts, as well as a black terminal bar on its tail. It has a yellow-stained nape and crown. Its bill is large and pink; however, older birds will gain a blue tip. The juveniles are an all-over brown colour, and they whiten as they mature, in about 10 to 20 years. [Source: Wikipedia]

Short-tailed albatross have been designated as a special Japanese natural treasure, feed primarily off the Aleutian Islands and in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Another species, the black-footed albatross, is prevalent in seas around Japan, but only the short-tailed albatross is protected by the government.

Short-tailed albatross only breed on Torishima, one of the Izu islands, and one of the Senkaku islands. The colony on Torishima was only discovered in 1951. Since Torishima is an active volcanic island, the ministry has been moving some albatross chicks from Torishima to Mukojima in the Ogasawara Islands, about 350 kilometers away, to increase their numbers. However, the ministry said it had not studied their genes. Each year about 500 to 1,000 of the birds bred on a steep slope of Torishima Island. Some short-tailed albatrosses are believed to have flown from the Senkaku Islands to Torishima, but it is not known if they are interbreeding. "To conserve gene diversity, an examination of the birds' genes should be conducted as soon as possible to prevent interbreeding," said Masaki Eda, associate professor of Tottori University, told the Yomiuri Shimbun.

Short-Tailed Albatross Conservation

Because a landslide can easily occur where the albatrosses breed on Torishima island and the volcano on th island can erupt anytime, an effort is being made to move the birds to a new nesting site on Mukojima, an island 370 kilometers away in the Ogasawara Island that is much safer In 2008, 10 one-month-old albatross chicks were moved from Torishima to Mukojima and artificially raised. In 2009 15 were moved. After leaving the island the birds have been tracked with navigation devices. The aim of the project is to turn Mukojima into a breeding site and get the bird to return there in the breeding season. A trial project with black-footed albatrosses brought to Mukojima from nearby Nakodojima has got the bird to return to their new breeding site.

As of February 2011, two short-tailed albatrosses had returned to their adopted homes on Mukojima. The birds returned three years after leaving the islands as relatively recent hatchling. The birds have been tracked with GPS devices. One of them, identified with band around its ankle, was filmed by coincidence feeding in the Aleutian Islands. In December 2010, a short-tailed albatross laid an egg for the first time on eastern Island in Midway Atoll — about 2,200 kilometers northwest of Honolulu and 400 kilometers east of Torishima Island. A male helped the female take care of the egg. Short-tailed albatross decoys were placed on the island in 2000 as part of an effort to get the birds to nest there.

In August 2012, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported: “The population of the endangered short-tailed albatross has recovered to about 3,000 birds on Torishima island, up from less than 200 more than 30 years earlier. Toho University Prof. Hiroshi Hasegawa, who has been involved in protecting the birds on the island for decades said the current number is large enough for their numbers to recover naturally. Torishima is known as the seabirds' largest breeding ground. The number of birds that left the nest this season rose to 353, a record high since Hasegawa's team started surveys in 1976. The recovery is believed to have been the result of greatly improved breeding rates, boosted by newly prepared breeding sites on the island. If the current recovery pace continues, the number of birds is expected to reach 5,000, a benchmark for avoiding the extinction crisis, by about 2018. Hasegawa carried out his latest survey in April and May. [Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, August 22, 2012]

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies this species as vulnerable. There 3540 of them on Torishima in the Izu Islands, up from 25 in 1954; 650 on Minami-kojima and Kita-kojima; and 10 on the Ogasawara Islands, for a total of 4200. [Source: Birdlife International, 2017]

New Short-Tailed Albatross Species?

range of the short-tailed albatross

In October 2011, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported: “Scientists have long believed that only one species of ahodori, or short-tailed albatross, exists in Japan, but groundbreaking research has found there are probably two different species. The ahodori is a protected species in danger of extinction, and the discovery may affect a conservation and breeding project that has been carried out by the Environment Ministry since 1993. Research teams of the University of Tokyo and Tottori University found that short-tailed albatrosses on Torishima in the Izu Islands and the Senkaku Islands, the only two breeding places in the world, are most likely different species. [Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, October 10, 2011]

“The research teams' paper was published in an electronic version of Conservation Genetics, an international academic journal focusing on the conservation of genetic diversity. After analyzing gene samples from the bones of a short-tailed albatross unearthed on the islands, and genes taken from the seabirds' feathers at the two breeding sites, the researchers concluded the birds probably separated into two groups at least 1,000 years ago. Although identical in appearance, the birds nesting on Torishima and the Senkaku Islands differ enough genetically to be classified as separate species, the researchers said.

White-Naped Crane

The white-naped crane is named after the white stripe that runs along the bird's neck. Standing up to 1.5 meters and weighing between 4.75 and 6.50 kilograms, these large birds inhabit wetlands and adjacent grasslands in China, eastern Siberia (near Vladivostok), southern Japan and the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

Predominately grey, with a red spot around their eyes, white-naped cranes are monogamous. They incubate two eggs which hatch in about 30 days. Only about 4,900-5,300 of the birds remain. Their existence has been threatened by loss of habitat and disruption of migration patterns. White-naped cranes and hooded cranes breed in the marshlands in China, Mongolia and Russia and winter in western Kyushu. Flocks of more than 1,000 birds often show up around Izumi in Kumamoto prefecture.

Hooded cranes once wintered all over Japan, but today they are only found in one or two places.

'Extinct' Birds Rediscovered on Ogasawara Islands

In February 2012, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported: “Bryan's shearwaters, rare seabirds formerly believed extinct worldwide, still survive in the remote Ogasawara Islands, a research group of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Ibaraki Prefecture said. Several hundred of the birds now inhabit the islands, which are hundreds of kilometers south of mainland Japan but officially part of Tokyo, according to the group at the independent administrative institute. Experts said the discovery proves the value of the ecosystem on the islands, which were added last year to UNESCO's list of World Natural Heritage Sites. [Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, February 16, 2012]

“The official Japanese name for the Bryan's shearwater is expected to be the "Ogasawara himemizunagidori" (Ogasawara little shearwater). It measures 25 to 30 centimeters in length, with long tail feathers and blue legs. Shearwaters spend most of their lives at sea, but make nests on cliffs or by making holes in the ground on islands during the breeding season.

“Bryan's shearwaters were believed extinct because the last one ever identified was found in the Midway Islands in 1991, and the last one before that was found in the same islands in 1963. However, the institute's analysis of the DNA of six birds found in the Ogasawara Islands since 1997 has proved they are Bryan's shearwaters.It is rare to rediscover birds once they are thought to have become extinct. The last previous case in Japan was the rediscovery of albatrosses in the Izu island chain in 1951. "We'd like to maintain Ogasawara's biodiversity, through extermination of predators such as nonnative rats," said Kazuto Kawakami, chief researcher at the institute.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, Daily Yomiuri, Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO), New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated March 2025