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ANIMAL TRACKER

Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 14, 2005
Japanese littleneck clam
* Japanese name: Asari * Scientific name: Ruditapes philippinarum * Description: Clams are bivalve mollusks, meaning that they are shellfish, like mussels and oysters. The shells are elongated and pinched together in the center where they join. There are both radial and concentric ribs on the shell. Shells are basically pale beige, but with widely variable black and brown pigmentation. They are orange or violet inside and the bodies are soft. Shells are about 60 mm long. * Where to find them: In bowls of miso soup all over Japan! Living clams, on the other hand, can be found buried in silt-sand and sand-pebble shores at depths ranging from 1 to 10 meters. Littleneck clams are best found in the summer, when water temperatures are at least 18-20 degrees; and they prefer sheltered shores. Bring a spade to dig them up. Young clams secrete a thread called a byssus, which attaches them to rocks and pebbles. * Food: Clams feed on algae and plankton, which they filter from the surrounding seawater by extruding a siphon that they use to suck in water. This technique, so useful in natural conditions, means that clams are especially sensitive to pollutants in the water. * Special features: Littleneck clams are one of the most important shellfish species, and they are cultivated all over Asia. As a result, they are distributed more widely than their natural range. Reproduction takes place externally. A female will spawn her eggs and a male releases sperm over them. There is a planktonic stage which lasts a few days, and then the free-swimming larvae settle down on a hard surface and start to grow a shell. But their marine lifestyle leaves clams vulnerable on two fronts. First, the increasing pollution of coastal waters means that clam meat may often contain high levels of heavy metals, such as cadmium, that are toxic to humans. And with the rise in sea temperatures brought about by global warming, clams are themselves more sensitive to damage by those heavy metals.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 23, 2005
Yellow-browed bunting
* Japanese name: Kimayuhojiro * Scientific name: Emberiza chrysophrys * Description: Buntings are related to finches and sparrows, but the Yellow-browed bunting -- whose Japanese name means "yellow eyebrow white cheek" -- is distinguished from them by its rather large head, brown-streaked upperparts and white underside. In the breeding season, the male also has a bright yellow eyebrow stripe on a black head with a white crown. The bird looks like it's wearing a ninja eye mask, which -- given the males' penchant for clandestine behavior (see below) -- is quite appropriate. The bird has a stout pink bill, and its song is a rattling trill * Where to find them: All over Japan and even, if you are lucky, in parks and gardens in Tokyo. But buntings prefer farmland with trees and hedges to forage through and in which to make their nests where the females lay four eggs. * Food: Insects and seeds. In winter, buntings tend to eat seeds (from cereal crops and weeds; that's why they have a stout bill) and in the spring and summer, when they are feeding their chicks, they forage for insects. Grasshoppers are a favorite invertebrate and a good source of nutrients for the baby buntings. * Special features: There is a good reason for the loud song of the male bunting, and for the bright yellow eyebrow. The former functions to proclaim a male's territory, where his female resides; the latter to advertise his sexual prowess. Buntings are caught in a double bind: They want to stray as much as possible into other male's territories, and quickly mate with their females, but they should also closely guard their own territory to prevent their neighbors doing the same thing. The testes of buntings are much larger than would be expected from a bird of this size, suggesting that the temptation to mate with other females ("extra-pair copulation" is how biologists term it) wins out over the guard-duty option. DNA fingerprinting has confirmed that a huge proportion of nests contain a chick not fathered by the male who feeds it. The sperm length, incidentally, is among the longest recorded in any bird.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 9, 2005
Four-lined rat snake
* Japanese name: Shimahebi * Scientific name: Elaphe quadrivirgata * Description: Unfortunately, despite the name, this snake does not always have four lines running down its length. Often it has black lines running down a light-brown body (as in the photo), or sometimes lighter, dashed lines that are harder to see. Sometimes, there are none at all, and the whole body is black (in this case it is known as the Crow snake). All Four-lined rat snakes, however, are 80-200 cm long. * Where to find them: Again, despite the Japanese name (meaning "island snake"), this species is very common all over mainland Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu, in grassland, farmland and the lowlands of mountains. They can also commonly be seen in gardens and parks in urban areas. Rat snakes found on islands, however, tend to be larger than their mainland counterparts. They like resting in trees after eating. Rat snakes hibernate over winter, often in houses, but don't worry -- they are generally placid and not venomous (although, of course, no snakes should be handled without expert advice). When they emerge in the spring they are soon ready to mate. The female lays 4-16 eggs in August, and about 50 days later, the young are ready to hatch. They use a special "tooth" on the snout to tear open the egg shell (the tooth falls off when they are done). * Food: Other species of rat snakes live up to their name, but the Four-lined rat snake, already contrary in not always having lines, doesn't eat rats, either. This species prefers lizards and frogs, as several studies of its regurgitated stomach contents have discovered; in the north of Japan frogs are preferred, but further south, it's lizards. * Special features: Four-lined rat snakes carry sophisticated sensory apparatus. In a row next to the teeth there are special sensory glands packed with taste buds and nerve cells. The amount and complexity of the chemical sensory cells (taste buds) are among the highest in all vertebrates: The rat snake gets a lot of information about its prey through its mouth.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 26, 2005
Butterfly dragonfly
* Japanese name: Choutonbo * Scientific name: Rhyothemis fuliginosa * Description: With huge wings colored a beautiful deep blue, this dragonfly is unmistakable. Its body is fairly short and stout, at 32-41 mm long, while its hind wings are 30-40 mm across. The name "butterfly dragonfly" refers both to the long, wide, colored wings (the hind wings are especially wide), but also to the fluttering way the insect flies. * Where to find them: From June to August, this magnificent dragonfly can be seen flying over ponds, swamps and paddy fields, from Aomori Prefecture in Honshu to Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu. There are also reports of sightings in Hokkaido. It seems that it was once seen in large swarms, but population numbers have fallen and these groupings have become rarer as the animal's habitat has disappeared or been polluted with insecticide. It can, however, sometimes be seen around ponds in the suburbs of towns and cities. * Food: Other flying insects. Mosquitoes are favored prey, and adults can munch through hundreds a day. For this reason alone it's a shame there aren't more of them. * Special features: The Butterfly dragonfly is in the Libellulid family, which is the largest of dragonfly families. Wing markings in this family are fairly common, but the Butterfly dragonfly is unusual in the extent of the coverage and the brilliance of the pigment. Why does it have such bright metallic-colored wings? The wing color might be a sexual signal of quality to females, just as a peacock's tail is to a peahen. But the problem with this explanation is that the female Butterfly dragonfly also has pigmented wings. The coloring might then be a badge of recognition, a way of quickly identifying members of the same species. Once a positive identification has been made, a male finding a female will grab her behind her neck in midair, using special claspers on the end of his abdomen. Once she's caught, the female, seemingly on autopilot, swings her abdomen around to engage with the male's genitalia. The male uses a specially adapted penis to scrape out any sperm already inside the female from previous matings and then inseminates his own. This ensures that the next batch of eggs she lays will be fathered by him.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 12, 2005
Brown-eared bulbul
* Japanese name: Hiyodori * Scientific name: Ixos amaurotis * Description: These are medium-size songbirds that grow to about 28 cm long. They are mainly olive brown with a white face and eyebrow, throat and belly; they have a small crest. The bill, feet and eyes are black. Males and females look the same. Bulbuls are boisterous, active birds with a range of songs; they can imitate other species, too. They are gregarious, and can often be seen in large flocks. * Where to find them: In woodland and parkland the length of Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. In fall and winter, bulbuls migrate to new feeding grounds, often flying low out at sea to avoid predation by falcons. * Food: In summer, bulbuls eat insects, but during winter they eat fruit. They can often be seen feasting on the nectar of camellia flowers, which leaves their faces dusted yellow with pollen. This is actually a service to the plant, which blooms in winter and -- in the absence of insects -- needs birds for pollination. To this end, the flowers produce tough petals with deep reservoirs of nectar. Bulbuls also eat, and disperse, nuts from various trees. When feeding on laurel, they will check the maturity of the nut before eating it (scratched laurel nuts on the ground have probably been rejected by bulbuls). The birds are not friends of farmers, however, as in group feeding frenzies they sometimes damage orchards, as well as crops of cabbage, cauliflower and spinach. * Special features: Brown-eared bulbul females lay up to five purple-pink eggs in open nests in trees. The female incubates the eggs, but sometimes briefly leaves the nest to feed -- which is when disaster can strike. Cuckoos are waiting for just this moment, and may swoop in and lay (with almost indecent haste) their own egg in the bulbul's nest, ditching one of the eggs already there. If the bulbul hosts don't notice the switch, they'll end up raising a large chick of the wrong species. What's worse, the cuckoo chick, when it hatches, instinctively pushes out of the nest anything else it finds. Working hard to the sound of their own beautiful song, the unfortunate host Brown-eared bulbuls raise a giant parasitic cuckoo at the cost of their own brood.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 28, 2005
Gray-headed Lapwing
* Japanese name: Keri * Scientific name: Vanellus cinereus * Description: Lapwings are attractive, plump, medium-size birds (body length 30 cm; wingspan about 85 cm) with large orange eyes, yellow legs and a yellow bill with a black tip. The head and neck are gray, as are the tops of the wings, but the flight feathers -- which molt twice a year, before and after the breeding season -- are black. The underside of the wings and the lower half of the body are light gray, fading to white. The coloring is distinctive but disruptive, so when one stands still it is difficult to see. Lapwings have a characteristic flapping, wavering flight pattern (the Latin name refers to this, meaning "little fan") and a wheezing song that includes "weep weep" noises. * Where to find them: In wetlands, which in Japan means especially around paddies. Lapwings are found from Honshu to Kyushu and Okinawa; the Aichi Prefecture wetlands support a large population. They can also be seen on pasture, marshland and grassland. Their numbers, however, have fallen in the last few decades. * Food: Lapwings feed on terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, taking adult and larval insects, worms, crustaceans, mollusks and worms. Occasionally they will eat berries. * Special features: Lapwings have graceful courtship displays both on the ground and in the air. They run, fan their tails, then bow and curtsey to their prospective mate. They can hover, drop suddenly, twist and turn. The male prepares several nests, which are little more than a few scrapes on the ground, and the female chooses between them, laying usually four large eggs. Females must be in good condition before laying, as they use at least 50 percent of their body weight in producing the eggs. Both parents share the task of incubation, and after about a month the eggs hatch. Living on the ground is obviously dangerous, which is probably one reason why the eggs are so large, since it means the chicks are large when they hatch. They develop quickly and fledge after 20-40 days. Despite their rapid development, the risk of nesting on the ground remains high, so eggs and chicks are well camouflaged. The parents also have a clever trick: If they spot a predator near the nest, they stagger away with a wing dragging along the ground as if broken, which lures predators away from the nest. PHOTO COURTESY OF BIO-IMAGE NET
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 14, 2005
Azure-winged magpie
* Japanese name: Onaga * Scientific name: Cyanopica cyana * Description: Magpies are in the Corvid family, that is, they are related to crows and jackdaws. But Azure-winged magpies are more elegant, with long, light-blue tails and wings, gray backs, white throats and black caps on the top of their heads. They are about 35 cm long; adults weigh 5 grams. The Japanese name means "long tail." As for the voice, the birds whistle and trill, and when in groups they are wont to utter a loud note again and again. * Where to find them: In forests and woodlands from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and often in suburban parks and gardens. Hibiya Park in Tokyo, for example, is home to Azure-winged magpies. Interestingly, they are also found in China and on the Korean Peninsula, and in Portugal and Spain -- but not in between. It used to be thought that this odd distribution was because Portuguese sailors took the bird back from Asia in the 15th century. However, 40,000-year-old fossils have been found in Spain, so now it is thought that the populations were separated in the last Ice Age. Climate change is again threatening the population in Europe. * Food: Azure-winged magpies are omnivores, eating insects, fruit, seeds and even mice, lizards and small birds if they can get them. The shape of the beak reflects their diet: It is all-purpose, and can deal with most food types. Magpies often forage in groups. * Special features: All birds are at their most vulnerable when they are young and confined to the nest. Azure-winged magpies have a clever strategy to reduce the risk of predation from foxes and other mammals: They nest within the territories of predatory birds, who drive away predators that approach too closely. Researchers in Tokyo found that only 2 percent of magpie nests located within 20 meters of a sparrowhawk nest were lost to predators. However, 50 percent of those located 40-60 meters away, and 75 percent of those located 80-100 meters away, were predated. Fortunately, more than 50 percent of all magpie nests are located within 20 meters of a sparrowhawk nest. Azure-winged magpies also time their nesting with that of sparrowhawks, and those settling close to sparrowhawks don't put as much effort into camouflaging their nests. PHOTO
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 24, 2005
Japanese wagtail
* Japanese name: Segurosekirei * Scientific name: Motacilla grandis * Description: Wagtails are easily identified by the way their tails wag frenetically when they walk. Even their flight pattern seems to wag -- they fly in an undulating wave. The head, throat and the top of the back and the wings and tail are black (the Japanese name refers to the black back); the rest of the bird is white. There is a white horizontal stripe from the base of the bill over the eye. The chest is plump; adult birds are about 21 cm long. Japanese wagtails often sing, making a high "tzi-tzi" call while flying and roosting. * Where to find them: Japanese wagtails are endemic to Japan and are fairly common from Honshu to Kyushu. In summer they can be seen alongside fresh, fast-flowing rivers and streams, especially those fringed with woodland, vegetation or rocks. In winter they move to lowland areas, and can be seen in gardens, farm areas and even city centers. They often hang out on the Tamagawa River in Tokyo. Sewage processing facilities are also favored sites (that's not to compare the Tamagawa River with a sewage facility). * Food: Insects. Wagtails search for small flies and beetles in gardens and damp gutters. * Special features: Males and females pair off and defend a territory throughout the year. Males will aggressively chase away other males they find loitering at the border of their territory. They make a threat display by shaking the head up and down and will even jump against an intruder. The aggressive behavior suggests that males will try to sneak into another male's territory and copulate with his female. As yet, however, no DNA analysis of chicks and their parents has been performed to confirm or debunk this idea. Pairs are loyal to their territory (if not each other): One study showed that 74 percent of birds remained in the same territory the following year. Wagtails are known for the huge communal roosts they sometimes form in winter. Although Pied wagtails gather in groups of more than 3,000, groups of Japanese wagtails do not exceed a few hundred.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 10, 2005
Mandarin duck
* Japanese name: Oshidori * Scientific name: Aix galericulata * Description: The male Mandarin duck is the last word in avian cuteness. With a wingspan of 68-74 cm, and a body that's 41-49 cm long, he has highly elaborate plumage, with long orange feathers on the "cheeks" of his face, swished-back head feathers of green and brown, a red bill and orange "sails" on his back. The female is subtle in comparison, with white rings around the eyes, a gray head and brown back. Both sexes have a blue-green iridescent patch on the wings that can be seen when they are in flight. * Where to find them: Lakes and ponds that are well fringed with woodland or bushes and trees. The pond in the grounds of Meiji Shrine in Harajuku has Mandarin ducks, for example. Mandarins nest in trees, or in holes in fallen or hollow trunks. Environmental destruction has hit Mandarins hard, though the reportedly unpleasant taste of their flesh has meant that they have at least not been hunted for food. * Food: Insects, vegetation and nuts and seeds, including rice. They will even accept food thrown by women holding Louis Vuitton handbags. * Special features: With such elaborate plumage, you would be correct in thinking that the Mandarin duck's courtship is also elaborate. The male, while whistling to the female (he rarely makes noises at other times) pretends to drink and shakes his body -- it's similar to human mating behavior in a nightclub. Males have to spend a long time getting ready, too. Fourteen percent of their time is spent maintaining that ornate plumage, and most of that time is spent preening the feathers. A well groomed appearance is a message to females: Males with the most beautiful plumage are the ones able to devote the most energy to keeping it clean and growing it, and are also likely to be the best ones to mate with. Once he has mated, the male doesn't help incubate the eggs, but despite this, Mandarin ducks are symbolic of happiness and marital fidelity in their native lands of Japan and China. A population of around 7,000 is well established in Britain, where there was a vacant ecological niche for a hole-nesting duck feeding on insects in the summer and vegetable matter in the winter.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 24, 2005
Spotted nutcracker
* Japanese name: Hoshigarasu * Scientific name: Nucifraga caryocatactes * Description: Nutcrackers are members of the Corvid (crow) family. An adult bird is approximately the size of a jackdaw, with a wingspan of 17.5-19 cm and a body length of 32 cm. They weigh 155-215 grams. Like other crows, their plumage is dark, but in nutcrackers, the body is covered in white spots. When these birds are in flight, a striking black-and-white undertail pattern can be seen. * Where to find them: Coniferous mountain forests. Nutcrackers are active during the day. Their nests are built of twigs and can be seen in pine trees. During the breeding season, nests will contain 3-4 light-blue eggs. * Food: Insects (beetles and wasps), worms, millipedes, slugs and snails -- and, of course, nuts and pine cones. The nutcracker's sturdy bill is long and sharp, well able to penetrate and break open pine cones and remove the seeds. They have a special pouch under the tongue that is used to store and carry seeds. Nutcrackers can be remarkably tame, especially in winter, taking food from the hand and sometimes stealing campers' food. * Special features: Like other members of the crow family, nutcrackers are smart, with well-developed brains. In the nutcracker's case, the hippocampus (the part of the brain involved in memory) is especially large. This is not surprising, as nutcrackers collect nuts and pine seeds and bury them at hundreds and even thousands of locations over a large area. The birds must remember where the food caches are in order to find them in the winter. They bury up to 100,000 seeds, but despite the large hippocampus, many are forgotten. These seeds may germinate, and so nutcrackers provide a good dispersal service to trees they feed on. Because of this readily available food supply, nutcrackers are able to start breeding in winter, when food for other birds is in short supply. Interestingly, males help incubate the eggs, which other male members of the crow family do not do. Chicks leave the nest after about three weeks and the birds live for around a year and a half. PHOTO COURTESY OF BIO-IMAGE NET
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 10, 2005
Jungle crow
* Japanese name: Hashibuto-garasu * Scientific name: Corvus macrorhynchos * Description: The Jungle crow is a large, black, fearsome-looking bird with a wingspan of up to 104 cm and a body length of 50 cm. It weighs up to 650 grams and lives up to 19 years. It has a close relative, the Carrion crow, and the two can be difficult to distinguish. However, Jungle crows caw with a bobbing tail and a lowered head; Carrion crows bob their head up and down. The Jungle crow's cry is a deep, clear "kaaar." * Where to find them: If you live in a city or town, then look out the window and you might see a Jungle crow (their Carrion crow cousins prefer more rural areas); there are an estimated 35,000 in Tokyo alone. Crows' nests are often made from metal clothes hangers plundered from washing lines. * Food: Almost anything, including carrion: Jungle crows are ecological generalists. Crow numbers have exploded in the last decade in Japan's cities, due to the readily availability of food in garbage bags. They will aggressively defend their favored garbage sites against other crows, and in the breeding season (April-May) there are often reports of attacks on humans. The population explosion has led to the decline of other bird species, as crows will prey on the nestlings of other species (sometimes attacking with such violence that the nest is destroyed). Some reports suggest that storing garbage in yellow bags deters crows -- but surely it would be better to place it in metal cages or plastic bins. * Special features: Intelligence. Crows drop clams from a height to break open the shells, and they have been seen in Tokyo waiting at traffic lights for the red light, and then placing walnuts on the road. When the lights change, cars run over the nuts and crack them. At the next red light, the crows stroll into the road to pick up their meal. One crow at the University of Oxford, known as Betty, showed unprecedented ingenuity by not only using a material not found in nature -- a piece of wire -- but using it to devise a solution to a problem. She was faced with retrieving a food-laden bucket from a tube but only had a straight piece of wire to work with. So she bent a hook into the wire and hoisted the bucket free. Betty showed that crow intelligence rivals that of primates.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 27, 2005
Bull-headed shrike
* Japanese name: Mozu * Scientific name: Lanius bucephalus * Description: At first glance, bull-headed shrikes look like large (20-cm-long) house sparrows, albeit they have thick, hooked, black bills and are more strongly colored, with black and white feathers in their wings, rust flanks, gray-brown backs and brown caps with a distinctive, horizontal black stripe running across the eye. Bull-headed shrikes are songbirds, though their song consists of a scratchy warble and a rather harsh "chack" call. Both the male and female put on weight when they are in the breeding phase. The female lays 3-7 eggs. * Where to find them: Bull-headed shrikes can often be seen perching in a high position, on bushes or trees or telephone cables. Stone lanterns are also favored sites in gardens and temples, as are bamboo groves. They can be seen all over Japan from Hokkaido to Kyushu, in gardens, river areas and farmland. In Hokkaido, they are migratory, moving to Honshu in the winter. They can be seen yearlong, and live for up to 7 years. * Food: The Latin name of this genus means "butcher," and that gives a clue to its diet, as does the specialized, very sharp bill. Bull-headed shrikes are sit-and-wait predators, preying on insects and small birds and mammals. In effect they are miniature birds of prey. When food is caught (despite the shrike's gentle appearance, prey such as sparrows are speared with the bill) it is often kept in a "larder" -- impaled on a thorn or wedged between twigs on a branch. * Special features: Perhaps because they feed on a range of other animals, shrikes are a good indicator species. This means that they are useful to ecologists monitoring environmental change, especially that due to climate change. Until quite recently, they were rather common, but populations (especially, for example, in Osaka) have fallen dramatically. Shrikes are sensitive to environmental conditions, and the size of their eggs changes according to food availability; the earlier eggs are laid, the greater the chance that the nestling will survive. Because of this, females will even reduce the size of their eggs in order to lay them quicker. * Special features:Bull-headed shrikes are also sometimes tricked by cuckoos, which lay their eggs in the shrike's nest and leave them to be raised.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 13, 2005
Japanese white-eye
* Japanese name: Mejiro * Scientific name: Zosterops japonicus * Description: The white-eye is a small, delicate bird, with an olive-green upper body, wings and head, and a gray to pale-brown belly. The distinguishing feature is the bright-white eye ring made of feathers (the Japanese name means "white eye"). It is only about 11 cm long and weighs around 10 grams. It has a fine, sharp bill and a brush-tipped tongue. The white-eye is also known for its beautifully melodic song, especially in the mornings. * Where to find them: In trees. The white-eye is a common bird, found all over Japan, including Okinawa. It lives in forests and woods, gardens and parks and even in mangroves in the south. The white-eye is seldom to be seen on the ground -- it prefers to be in trees. It also seems to enjoy the company of other white-eyes: from July to February these birds commonly form flocks numbering more than 200. White-eyes sleep with the head tucked under the wing, often perched on one leg. * Food: White-eyes are omnivorous, foraging in vegetation at all levels from the canopy to the tree trunk and in dense leaves. They pick off insects when they find them under leaves, and insect larvae by probing in bark. White-eyes also eat fruit and sap from trees and flowers. They play an important part in dispersing the seeds of berries they eat and have recently been identified as the main pollinators of camellias. No other temperate-living bird is known to play so important a role in flower pollination as the white-eye. * Special features: White-eyes often groom each other. Although preening the feathers for mites and ticks might supplement the diet, the main reason is to form bonds during flocking, and most importantly, during courtship. Pairs are loyal and remain together for several years, raising up to three broods of two to five chicks per year. Mates build a nest (in a tree, naturally, 1-30 meters above ground), using moss, spiders' webs, lichens and mammalian fur. The pairs are strongly territorial and use several displays to other birds to communicate their status. These include aggressive wing-fluttering, wing flicks and beak snaps. The males sing loudly to establish and maintain the territory. Some territories are small (1,200 sq. meters), others rather large (3 sq. km), which might account for the effort the male puts into singing.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 23, 2004
Rock ptarmigan
* Japanese name: Raicho * Scientific name: Lagopus mutus * Description: Ptarmigan are medium-size, plump birds about 35 cm long with a 54-60 cm wingspan. They weigh around 500 grams. Since the birds depend on camouflage for defense, their plumage changes with the season. In summer, the top half is a subtle mixture of gray, brown and black, while the belly and wings are white. The top of the head has a red cap. In winter, the bird becomes white all over, apart from its tail and eye-patch, which stay black. The ptarmigan has a harsh voice, producing a rasping croak. The alarm call is a grating sound. Perhaps because of this, it is called "thunder-bird" in Japanese. * Where to find them: Year-round, in arctic landscapes, high in the mountains across central Japan. Ptarmigan trail their feet in soft snow, so their tracks may be seen even if the bird is not. In very cold weather, they may move to the edge of forests to stay warm. * Food: In winter, catkins, leaves and leaf buds, overwintering berries and insects. In summer ptarmigan eat shoots, caterpillars and beetles. * Special features: After a winter of huddling together and foraging for food, when the snow melts ptarmigan start looking for mates. Males become boisterous and intolerant of potential mating rivals. They defend territories by gargling, screeching and even flying at intruders. Mating takes place in spring and females lay six to 10 eggs, which are incubated for three weeks. The chicks hatch May-June and, despite the fact that the male provides no help rearing or feeding them, they grow extraordinarily quickly. Only nine-10 days after hatching, the chicks can flap their wings hard enough to clear the ground; by eight weeks they have primary flight feathers and can fly well. Nesting on the ground means that they are vulnerable to many predators, so selection has led to an accelerated development time to try to minimize the vulnerable stage. Nevertheless, ptarmigan are still vulnerable to the weather and population numbers can vary wildly from year to year, according to the severity of the winter.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 9, 2004
Long-tailed tit
* Japanese name: Enaga * Scientific name: Aegithalos caudatus * Description:The long-tailed tit is a small, fluffy, pinkish bird; it would be the Bridget Jones of the bird world if only it were better fed. The flanks and shoulders are pink-brown; the eyes red; the wings black; and the tail, which is longer than the body, is black with a thin, white border. Like the English name, the Japanese name for the bird refers to the distinctive tail: It means "long handle." Total length (including tail): 15 cm; wingspan: 18 cm. The bill is very small, and although long-tailed tits do not have much of a song, they make high-pitched "tsee-tsee-tsee" calls. * Where to find them: Long-tailed tits are common residents of Japan, found from Hokkaido to Kyushu. They can be seen year-round. A social bird, they are often found in flocks of 20-30 birds, twittering in tall trees. They are acrobatic and energetic, and can be seen hanging upside-down on twigs searching for food. Their favored habitat is woodland, scrubland, farmland, parks and gardens. In winter they form flocks with other tit species. * Food:Spiders, insects and insect larvae, especially caterpillars; long-tailed tits also feed on berries and peanut feeders in gardens. * Special features:The nest of the long-tailed tit is a globular masterpiece of careful construction. Both the male and female in a pair cooperate to build it, using moss and lichen, animal wool, hair and fur, and silk from spiders' webs. The resulting nest is lined with feathers (sometimes more than 2,000), forming a warm, elastic ball with a tiny side entrance. Construction may take up to three weeks. In this nest the female lays around a dozen small eggs that are about 14 × 10 mm and white with pink-red spots. As the chicks grow, the elastic nest grows too. Timing is crucial: If the nest is built before the spring leaves have opened, then jays and magpies will be able to see it and plunder it for eggs. The ready social behavior of the long-tailed tit pays off during the raising of the young: Other birds that have failed to breed often assist the parents, bringing food for the young. With so many mouths to feed, the parents benefit from the extra help. Long-tailed tits are vulnerable to the weather, and cold winters kill many individuals. However, their large brood sizes mean the populations can quickly recover. There is some data suggesting that long-tailed tits are starting to lay their eggs earlier in the year. The shift might be due to climatic changes and global warming.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 25, 2004
Spoonbill
* Japanese name: Herasagi * Scientific name: Platalea leucorodia * Description: Spoonbills are tall white birds with long legs, similar to egrets, but fatter. The legs vary from pink-gray to black. They have a defining characteristic: a long black bill that forms a spoon shape at the end. The body grows up to 90 cm long. In flight they extend the neck and legs. Juvenile birds have some black tips to the primary flight feathers, and adults in the breeding season develop a yellow collar on the breast and a yellow patch on the tip of the bill. They are largely silent, but do utter the occasional grunt. * Where to find them: Spoonbills are water birds found on coastal rivers, lakes and estuaries, as well as along sheltered rivers and marshes inland. They prefer habitats with reed beds to provide cover, and they nest in colonies, sometimes with other water birds such as herons and egrets. Water pollution and the degrading of their habitat has led to a fall in numbers across Japan. * Food: Aquatic insects (and insect larvae), crustaceans, amphibians, reptiles, worms, leeches and small fish. The feeding method of spoonbills is unique and distinctive: They sweep their long bills side to side through shallow water, snapping them shut when they feel a prey item. The inside of the spoon-shaped bill is covered with sensory cells that can detect food. Even so, the method doesn't appear to be very efficient: Spoonbills must spend most of each day feeding in order to collect enough and sometimes they are forced to eat plant material. * Special features: Spoonbills form a pair bond, but it only lasts one season. During that time they are apparently faithful, and both the male and the female cooperate to incubate the eggs (usually three per clutch) and to feed the young (by regurgitation). There is a division of labor: The male collects sticks for use as nest material and the female constructs the nest, weaving the sticks into a bowl shape. However, it isn't all domestic bliss. It is hard to find enough food to raise the chicks and in many cases one or more chick will die of starvation. Once the chicks have fledged, the mother and father split up. Next season they take different partners.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 11, 2004
Mute swan
* Japanese name: Aosagi * Scientific name: Ardea cinerea * Description: Gray herons, the largest of herons, grow to be almost 1 meter tall, with a wingspan of 2 meters. Despite their Japanese name (which means "blue heron"), these birds are more gray than blue, with a white neck and a black underside. The bill is yellow and they have a black "eyebrow." Males and females look the same. Young birds have black tufts on the nape of their necks. * Where to find them: Gray herons breed in woodlands and plantations, usually near rivers and estuaries. They winter along rivers, estuaries, lakes, marshes, gravel pits and reservoirs and are commonly seen standing silent and statuesquely at the water's edge, waiting for prey. They can also be seen around fish farms and gardens and at temple ponds, much to the irritation of the monks. Herons aren't too fussy about the water they hunt in: It may be muddy or clear, salty or fresh -- so long as it contains fish. * Food: Herons eat mainly fish, usually standing and waiting for their prey to swim close by. Then, the heron will rapidly straighten its neck and stab, sometimes more than once. Herons also stalk their prey, taking long strides through the water, sometimes wading out as deep as their belly (they have even been seen swimming). However, fish are not their only prey. If times are hard, herons will eat other birds and even mice, rats and water voles. * Special features: From February, the herons' elaborate breeding rituals begin. The birds can be seen chasing each other through the air, and displaying to each other on old nest platforms, combining complex neck movements with the raising and lowering of the plumes on their crest and neck. The display looks like, and probably is, a kind of bird sign-language. Sound also plays a part: The birds snap their bills and produce ear-splitting cries. For a short period of time, too, their pale yellow legs and bills turn deep orange. A pair of herons produce 3-4 chicks per clutch; the young take seven weeks to grow big enough to fledge and leave the nest, and during that time they make an almost constant clicking noise. The adults, which can live to the age of 25, must be glad to see the back of them!
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 14, 2004
Wren
* Japanese name: Misosazai * Scientific name: Troglodytes troglodytes * Description: The wren is tiny, the smallest Japanese bird, only 10 cm long. It has brown upperparts and gray-brown underparts. There is a white stripe above the eye. (The Japanese name refers not to its brown color and thus similarity to miso soybean paste, but to mizo meaning trench: The name means "small bird living in a trench".) Wrens may be small but they sure are cocky, with rapid flight and a loud and explosive song. Males and females look the same. * Where to find them: In mountain regions, forests, fields, alongside streams, reed-beds, in gardens: everywhere from Kyushu northward. While they are sometimes difficult to spot, their song is readily audible, its volume out of proportion to their size, and can be heard year-round. Being so small, wrens lose heat readily and will roost together in large numbers in the winter to try and stay warm. Cold weather is their biggest killer. * Food: Mainly insects and spiders. Wrens have a slightly curved bill, and assume a crouching posture when hunting for food. In winter, hungry wrens will eat berries. They also sometimes eat snails, millipedes or even tiny fish, catching them from the edges of streams. Gardeners appreciate wrens as they will eat many garden pests, such as caterpillars. * Special features: Why do wrens sing so loudly? To attract females, naturally. While doing this, the male will squat and shake his wings, cock his tail, wiggle it, and fan his wings. The songs are complex, sometimes lasting more than 8 seconds and consisting of more than 100 separate notes. Wrens are socially monogamous, but a rather high proportion of the young that a male will help his partner raise will not belong to him. In other words, they will often mate with birds other than their partner: All is not as meets the eye in the wren world and scientists only discovered the high levels of so-called "extra-pair copulation" after doing DNA tests. Wrens will lay two broods of six eggs per year.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 23, 2004
Herring gull
* Japanese name: Segurokamome * Scientific name: Larus argentatus * Description: Herring gulls are large, noisy, boisterous birds. They are white with light gray backs, black wingtips and pink legs that have webbed feet. A key identifying mark is the red spot on the lower tip of their yellow bills. They grow 55-66 cm long, with a wing span of 130-158 cm. Brown streaks appear on the heads of the adults in winter. The voice of a herring gull may be a plaintive mew or a loud, wailing laugh. * Where to find them: These days, herring gulls are widespread, found on the coast as well as inland at garbage tips, fields, reservoirs and lakes. They are more likely to be seen inland during winter. They often breed in colonies on the coast (cliffs, beaches, small islands and rooftops), sometimes returning to a nesting site faithfully for 20 years. Gulls near airports are a potential hazard to aircraft. * Food: Herring gulls are omnivorous. They scavenge and eat most things, but that's not to say they aren't crafty. Gulls know that dropping clams on rocks or pavement, for example, will smash the shell. They eat fish (especially herring) and insects, the eggs and young of other birds, floating dead animals, bread -- even French fries and burgers if they're available. * Special features: Herring gulls are careful parents. While incubating, adults gently turn the eggs with their bills to ensure even development of the embryos. When the chick is hatched, the parents fly off with the eggshell, so that it's shiny white inner surface won't attract predators. And it's now that the function of the red spot on the bill can be revealed. Chicks instinctively peck at the red spot, and this stimulates the adult to regurgitate food. Chicks will also try in the same way to stimulate the red eraser on a pencil. Mortality among chicks is mainly due to food shortages, so they have every reason to peck at that red spot, and natural selection has seen to it that they do.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 9, 2004
Barn swallow Tsubame
* Japanese name: Tsubame * Scientific name: Hirundo rustica * Description: A common and easily recognizable bird, barn swallows have long, pointed wings and deeply forked tails. The feathers on the back and wings are a metallic dark blue; the underside is white or cream. The face is scarlet red. Both sexes look similar, although males (79-106 mm) are longer than females (68-84 mm). Males also have longer tail streamers. * Where to find them: Barn swallows breed all over Japan during the summer, arriving in April from their winter stay in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Micronesia. Swallows construct bowl-shaped nests from mud mixed with saliva and grass, often in caves and under the eaves of barns and houses. (In Japan it is considered good luck to have a swallow nesting in your house.) Swallows prefer open habitats with lots of room for aerial maneuvers. * Food: Insects, mainly bluebottles and horseflies. Swallows catch insects on the go, flying fast and low over the ground and water. They owe their agility and maneuverability in large part to their fork-shaped tails. While flies make up the majority of their diet, they also eat other insects, including beetles, mayflies, aphids, moths and flying ants. * Special features: The female lays four to six small whitish eggs and incubates them for about 15 days while the male feeds her. In North America, males share incubation duties, but in Europe females do it themselves. Both parents feed the young once they hatch, and it takes about another 15 days before the nestlings fledge and are ready to leave the nest. The females prefer males with longer tails, as they apparently advertise the good genes of their owners. Such males start breeding earlier and have more nestlings. Long-tailed males also have less parasitic mites and live longer. While females stuck with shorter-tailed males might not be getting good genes, however, short-tailed males provide more help in the nest.
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Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
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