the previous post.)
According to The Wild Bird Society of Japan's homepage,
from 2011 December members have noted the absence
of winter birds such as the white-eyed thrush, among other
types of thrush, as well as the hiyodori (brown-eared bulbul)
and white-eyed warbler. As a result of receiving questions
from the media, the Society began posting information on
its homepage.
Various regions of Japan have reported very low populations
of winter birds. There's a viewer-contributor site featuring data
that indicate migrations were normal up until October; after
October, however, only 37% of numbers of birds of a normal
year, and 55% of two years ago, were sighted. The homepage
reports a bird population decrease even in western Japan,
based not just on impressions but on careful observation,
particularly regarding the numbers of migratory thrush
and non-migratory white-eyed warblers.
Other blogs and newspapers from Kyushu this year have
reported a sharp decrease of sightings of small birds.
Veterinarains have also reported very low numbers of
migratory birds. In Aichi Prefceture, the Wild Bird Society
observed in 11 different locations a total of 141 birds, but
in 2011 December, in the same locations only 11 birds were
sighted. In Kyushu, this February, they reported a radical
drop, citing a figure of only 6 birds. Other private observers
have noted a drop in the number of sparrows, thrushes and
hiyodori.
Speculating on the causes... Many different causes have
been discussed: 1) the birds have not been able to mate
well in Russia and northeast China... but this doesn't seem
to be credible, since weather conditions have not changed.
2) still the same number of wild birds in Hokkaido, and
in northern Japan generally, so it appears the birds have
yet to migrate south. For the water birds, due to the 3/11
earthquake and the subsequent shift of ground, swampy
areas have increased, dispersing or scattering the birds.
This survey, however, cannot objectively report a drop
in the number of birds without more data, so they will
continue surveying and monitoring various locations.
Wild Bird Society of Japan
http://www.wbsj.org/activity/
oh-gojo
Kagoshima PR site for local women
http://oh-gojo.com/?p=53938
pdf file of various reports of decreasing bird
population
http://www.wbsj.org/mng/
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