Shorebirds in Japan

　　Whether it is famous or not among foreign birders, Japan is a good location to observe East Asian shorebird. Most of shorebirds are passage migrants in Japan. Spring migration starts from arrival of Bar-tailed Godwits. They even sometimes arrive before April and feed with Dunlins (photo left), a common winter migrants. During the "Golden Week", normally migration becomes peak in the spring. Great Knot, Red-necked Stint, Whimbrel and Eastern Curlew assemble at the tidal flats. Mongolian (or Lesser Sand), Kentish and Grey Plover chase around each other.

In the paddy and lotus fields, there are different shorebirds. Spotted Redshank is normally the earliest migrant. They even arrive late February! Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper (photo right) and Little Ringed Plovers are other common inland migrants. Although the number is always small, Long-billed Dowitcher, Long-toed Stint and Ruff are also sometimes recorded. Looking for a gorgeous Ruff is one of the reason to visit spring paddyfield. Unfortunately, because of loss of inland wetlands, number of these inland shorebirds are decreasing.

Autumn migration starts from late July. There are normally many people who enjoy summer on the beach. Terek Sandpiper and Grey-tailed Tattler run busily on the sandy beach. Comparing to spring, more Long-toed Stints (left) are observed in water pool of reclamation land, paddyfield and drain channel. The stint is more insectivorous than common Red-necked Stint. Broad-billed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper (photo on the top of this page) and Marsh Sandpiper are more commonly observed in autumn.

Because of typhoon, there are more opportunities to encounter rare shorebirds, such as Pectoral Sandpiper, Little Stint, Baird's Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs and endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Some Japanese birdwatchers go to tidal flat or paddy & lotus field likely every weekend for finding out unrecorded Semipalmated Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper in one day.

If you are more interested in shorebirds in Japan, click here for "Stint Fan"'s page.

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