Japanese Grosbeak
Eophona personata
A large finch with a powerful hulking bill that is an inhabitant of deciduous and mixed forests. Adults are not extremely sexually dimorphic, unlike the closely related Yellow-billed Grosbeak; both males and females have gray bodies with black heads, wings, and tail. Migratory race breeds in northern and central Japan and northeastern China and Russia, and winters in eastern and southeastern China, where it tends to be less common than Yellow-billed Grosbeak. Resident race present year-round in central and southern Japan.
Identification
This is a large finch, with a reported weight of 80 g (2.8 oz) (for a single male) and a length of 18 to 23 cm (7.1 to 9.1 in). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 10.2 to 11.7 cm (4.0 to 4.6 in), the tail is 8.3 to 9.5 cm (3.3 to 3.7 in) and the culmen is 2.1 to 2.6 cm (0.83 to 1.02 in). The signature feature of the Japanese grosbeak is its large, pointed bright yellow bill. The adult grosbeak has a large black marking extending from the nape to the chin and ear-coverts to the neck. The side of the neck is a contrasting pale whitish grey. The bird's underside is a more dull grey. The back is greyish-brown while the flanks are washed with a gingery or tawny-brown colour. The wings and tail are black but for a white patch on the inner-coverts and band of white in the middle of the primaries, which is visible in flight. Juveniles are a duller grey overall with no black on head. The subspecies, E. p. magnostris is slightly larger than the nominate race. It is also generally paler in tone with a smaller white patch the on primaries.<p>Among the vocalizations issued by Japanese grosbeaks include a short but hard tak tak note given in flight. The song of these birds consists of a series of four flutey whistles.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Eophona personata
- Authority
- (Temminck & Schlegel, 1847)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Eophona
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : Amurland, Ussuriland and Sakhalin (Russian Far East), Heilongjiang and Jilin (ne China), Hokkaido through Kyushu (Japan)
- Non-breeding range
- to Ryukyu Is. (s Japan), s China and se Asia (rare)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The alternate subspecies (E. p. magnostris) is completely migratory, breeding around the Amur, Ural and Manchurian regions and then wintering down in Hebei and Beijing, uncommonly ranging south towards North Korea. The nominate race occurs in Japan from Hokkaido to Kyushu and is not as seasonally migratory but does wander considerably during winter, largely in pursuit of food sources. The Japanese grosbeak is locally common, occasionally being abundant around prime feeding areas. It occurs in deciduous or mixed forests. More commonly, it is a bird of valleys rather than hillsides. This species also turns up in woods and groves of oak and birch and well-wooded parks and gardens. The species may winter on the edge of cultivated areas. The Japanese grosbeak usually occurs in pairs or small flocks. Behaviourally, it can be deceptively secretive, often staying hidden in foliage near the tree canopy. However, its location may regularly be betrayed by its voice. Mostly, the grosbeak feeds on variety of seeds and insects. During winter, they mainly live on cedar nuts, but also will feed on birch seeds and berries. During the summer, they become largely insectivorous and regularly eat caterpillars and beetles.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
White-fronted Wattle-eye
Platysteira albifrons
A cute and dumpy black, gray, and white flycatcher-like bird with striking red eye-wattles and white wing-stripes. The sexes differ: male has a broad black chest band and dark gray upperparts; female has completely white underparts and is duller gray above. Juvenile browner, lacking eye-wattles. Pairs are resident, flitting around the middle canopy of dry thickets, gallery forest, and mangroves in coastal northwest Angola and the adjacent Democratic Republic of Congo. Calls include a repeated grating “grrrrt-grrrt-grrrt” interspersed with clicks and buzzing notes, similar to other wattle-eyes. Black-thrated Wattle-eye marginally overlaps in the north of White-fronted Wattle-eye’s range, but it differs by the male being darker above and lacking white above the bill, and by the female having a brown throat.
Green Pheasant
Phasianus versicolor
Endemic to Japan and the national bird. The male is striking with bottle-green underparts, purplish-blue neck and head with red facial skin. Upperparts are intricately patterned brown and powder-gray with a long, pointed tail. Females are entirely brown with spotted and scalloped pattern. Inhabits fields, hedgerows, and brushy areas. Female could be confused with female copper pheasant although that species is more tied to forest. Male gives a far-carrying “ko-kyok!” followed by a noisy wing flutter. Flushes loudly with an explosion of wings and hoarse calls.
Moustached Antpitta
Grallaria alleni
Medium-sized antpitta. Typical antpitta shape: plump and short-tailed with long legs, like a grapefruit on stilts. Mostly brown with a brighter cinnamon belly and grayish crown. Note blotchy white mustache stripe. Very similar in appearance to Scaled Antpitta but typically occurs at slightly higher elevations. Moustached has a less pronounced scaly pattern on the upperparts, browner cheeks, and a slower, higher-pitched song without a stutter in the middle than Scaled Antpitta. Fairly rare and local within limited range in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. Occurs in mossy cloud forest in the lower subtropics from around 1,850–2,000 m. Very rarely seen; typically stays hidden in the dense understory, occasionally hopping onto forest trails at dawn or dusk.
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