The Birds of Shizugawa Forest | Tomohiro Ichinose, Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
2025.06.17
At the beginning of June, during the transition between the first and second halves of the spring semester, I went on a trip to the Shizugawa Forest with two students to conduct a biological survey. I introduced the Shizugawa Forest in the Dean's Diary published in May 2024 , and this time our objectives were to survey breeding birds, survey spring insects, and retrieve data from the camera traps set up in the forest. Here, I would like to briefly introduce the birds.
In Japan, spring is the breeding season for birds. You may have seen swallows and sparrows raising their young at SFC as well. To understand the distribution of birds in a certain area, surveys during the breeding season are essential. Birds that visit Japan during the breeding season are called summer visitors. On the other hand, birds that stay in Japan only in winter are called winter visitors. Birds that live in Japan year-round are called resident birds. In spring, the Shizugawa Forest becomes very lively, with many summer visitors joining the resident birds.
Birds in the breeding season are early risers. They start their activities before sunrise, singing everywhere, diligently building nests, and carrying food to raise their young. Surveys during the breeding season are usually conducted for two to three hours after sunrise, when the birds are most active. Sunrise in Minamisanriku Town at this time of year is just after 4 a.m., so surveyors are forced to wake up early.
Summer visitors to the Shizugawa Forest include the Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Japanese Thrush, Narcissus Flycatcher, Japanese Leaf Warbler, Japanese Bush Warbler, Oriental Cuckoo, and Lesser Cuckoo. The Blue-and-white Flycatcher and Japanese Thrush are rarely seen at SFC, so their beautiful songs are truly pleasant. Resident birds include the Copper Pheasant, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Varied Tit, Coal Tit, Japanese Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Japanese White-eye, and Japanese Bush Warbler.
In this survey, we were able to confirm the presence of the Japanese Paradise Flycatcher and, for the first time, the Ruddy Kingfisher. The Japanese Paradise Flycatcher is a beautiful summer visitor with a long tail that breeds in only very limited locations in the Tokyo metropolitan area. It is so popular that when rumors spread about its breeding locations, there are concerns that too many people will gather, potentially having a negative impact on its breeding. The Ruddy Kingfisher is a member of the kingfisher family and, as its name suggests, has a beautiful red color. It is also similarly popular.
Actually, we had recorded the Ruddy Kingfisher two years ago as well. We heard its call near the mountain cabin and searched the surrounding area extensively. Since we continued to hear the call, we assumed it was living there, even though we couldn't see it. However, we discovered there was a clock inside the cabin that played various bird calls on the hour, and one of them was the Ruddy Kingfisher. It's quite an embarrassing story, and we subsequently removed the Ruddy Kingfisher from our confirmed list, but this time, a student recorded its call in a location quite far from the cabin. Next time, I really hope to get a clear view of it.