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Japan Japan Ramsar wetland

Itsukushima

97 bird species recorded; the most in March.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec60at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0

This month here

55 species in January.

The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.

Eurasian Wigeon
Eurasian WigeonMareca penelopeWinter visitorПочта России · Public domain
Mallard
MallardAnas platyrhynchosWinter visitorTetiana.iefimenko · CC BY 4.0
Eurasian Teal
Eurasian TealAnas creccaWinter visitorKoshy Koshy from Faridabad, Haryana, India · CC BY 2.0
Gadwall
GadwallMareca streperaWinter visitorUnknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0
Coot
CootFulica atraWinter visitorNoodle snacks · CC BY-SA 3.0
Common PochardVU
Common PochardAythya ferinaWinter visitorCharles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 3.0
Mandarin Duck
Mandarin DuckAix galericulataWinter visitor星外之神 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Brown-eared Bulbul
Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotisResidentAlpsdake · CC BY-SA 3.0
Black Kite
Black KiteMilvus migransResidentYathin S Krishnappa · CC BY-SA 3.0
Daurian Redstart
Daurian RedstartPhoenicurus auroreusWinter visitorLaitche · CC BY-SA 4.0
Large-billed Crow
Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchosResidentTisha Mukherjee · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grey Heron
Grey HeronArdea cinereaResidentVassilios Vescoukis · CC BY-SA 4.0
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanusResidentMatt Tillett from Cumberland, MD, USA · CC BY 2.0
Masked bunting
Masked buntingEmberiza personataWinter visitorLip Kee from Singapore, Republic of Singapore · CC BY-SA 2.0
White Wagtail
White WagtailMotacilla albaResidentAndreas Trepte · CC BY-SA 2.5
Falcated Duck
Falcated DuckMareca falcataWinter visitorAlpsdake · CC BY-SA 3.0
Oriental Turtle Dove
Oriental Turtle DoveStreptopelia orientalisResidentJ. Patrick Fischer · CC BY-SA 4.0
Japanese Wagtail
Japanese WagtailMotacilla grandisResidentMaterialscientist ( talk ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Osprey
OspreyPandion haliaetusResidentEl Golli Mohamed · CC BY-SA 4.0
Chinese Spot-billed Duck
Chinese Spot-billed DuckAnas zonorhynchaResidentKuribo · CC BY-SA 2.0
Tufted Duck
Tufted DuckAythya fuligulaWinter visitorAlexis Lours · CC BY 4.0
Greater Scaup
Greater ScaupAythya marilaWinter visitorChuck Homler d/b/a Focus On Wildlife · CC BY-SA 4.0
Zosterops japonicusZosterops japonicusResident
Poecile varius
Poecile variusPoecile variusResidentAlpsdake · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

97 species, counted.

52out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 97Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 48Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 4,083Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 308 mAltitudeabove the sea
  • 5Raptors
  • 2Waders
  • 7Gulls & seabirds
  • 15Ducks & geese
  • 12Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 45Songbirds
  • 11Other birds

From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.

The checklist

All 97 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Black KiteMilvus migrans
  • OspreyPandion haliaetus
  • Eurasian SparrowhawkAccipiter nisus
  • Japanese BuzzardButeo japonicus
  • Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
Waders2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
  • Gray-tailed TattlerTringa brevipes
Gulls & seabirds7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Black-tailed GullLarus crassirostris
  • Slaty-backed GullLarus schistisagus
  • Vega GullLarus vegae
  • Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
  • Common GullLarus canus
  • Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
  • Common TernSterna hirundo
Ducks & geese15 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Eurasian WigeonMareca penelope
  • Chinese Spot-billed DuckAnas zonorhyncha
  • MallardAnas platyrhynchos
  • Common PochardAythya ferinaVU
  • Eurasian TealAnas crecca
  • Mandarin DuckAix galericulata
  • GadwallMareca strepera
  • Falcated DuckMareca falcata
  • Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
  • Anas poecilorhynchaAnas poecilorhyncha
  • Greater ScaupAythya marila
  • Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
  • Northern PintailAnas acuta
  • Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
  • GoosanderMergus merganser
Herons, ibises & grebes12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Little EgretEgretta garzetta
  • Grey HeronArdea cinerea
  • Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
  • Japanese CormorantPhalacrocorax capillatus
  • Egretta intermediaEgretta intermedia
  • Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatus
  • Pelagic CormorantPhalacrocorax pelagicus
  • Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
  • Striated HeronButorides striata
  • Reef HeronEgretta sacra
  • Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
Songbirds45 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchos
  • Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotis
  • Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
  • White WagtailMotacilla alba
  • Poecile variusPoecile varius
  • Carrion CrowCorvus corone
  • Japanese WagtailMotacilla grandis
  • Blue Rock ThrushMonticola solitarius
  • Barn swallowHirundo rustica
  • Cinereous TitParus cinereus
  • Zosterops japonicusZosterops japonicus
  • Grey-capped GreenfinchChloris sinica
  • Japanese Bush WarblerHorornis diphone
  • Daurian RedstartPhoenicurus auroreus
  • Red-billed LeiothrixLeiothrix lutea
  • Eastern Red-rumped SwallowCecropis daurica
  • Pale ThrushTurdus pallidus
  • GoldcrestRegulus regulus
  • Turdus eunomusTurdus eunomus
  • White-cheeked StarlingSpodiopsar cineraceus
  • Blue-and-white FlycatcherCyanoptila cyanomelana
  • Red-flanked BluetailTarsiger cyanurus
  • Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
  • BramblingFringilla montifringilla
  • Masked buntingEmberiza personata
  • Narcissus FlycatcherFicedula narcissina
  • Coal TitPeriparus ater
  • Asian House MartinDelichon dasypus
  • Brown-headed ThrushTurdus chrysolaus
  • Eurasian NuthatchSitta europaea
  • Janpanese ThrushTurdus cardis
  • Grey BuntingEmberiza variabilis
  • Asian StubtailUrosphena squameiceps
  • Muscicapa latirostrisMuscicapa latirostris
  • Eurasian WrenTroglodytes troglodytes
  • Eyebrowed thrushTurdus obscurus
  • Yellow-throated BuntingEmberiza elegans
  • Eastern Crowned Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus coronatus
  • Eurasian SiskinSpinus spinus
  • Ryukyu MinivetPericrocotus tegimae
  • Ashy MinivetPericrocotus divaricatus
  • Willow TitPoecile montanus
  • Olive-backed PipitAnthus hodgsoni
  • Grey-streaked FlycatcherMuscicapa griseisticta
  • White's ThrushZoothera aurea
Other birds11 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Oriental Turtle DoveStreptopelia orientalis
  • Rock DoveColumba livia
  • Japanese Pygmy WoodpeckerYungipicus kizuki
  • CootFulica atra
  • Japanese Green WoodpeckerPicus awokera
  • Copper PheasantSyrmaticus soemmerringii
  • White-bellied Green-PigeonTreron sieboldii
  • Chinese Bamboo-PartridgeBambusicola thoracicus
  • Lesser CuckooCuculus poliocephalus
  • Common KingfisherAlcedo atthis
  • Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major

Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.

When to go

The most species in March.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan556°/-2°63 mm
  2. Feb428°/-2°75 mm
  3. Mar6012°/1°109 mm
  4. Apr5017°/6°125 mm
  5. May4022°/11°146 mm
  6. Jun4125°/16°211 mm
  7. Jul4128°/21°260 mm
  8. Aug4830°/21°122 mm
  9. Sep3426°/17°170 mm
  10. Oct5220°/11°113 mm
  11. Nov5314°/5°79 mm
  12. Dec528°/0°84 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Itsukushima.

Island in Hiroshima, Japan

Itsukushima is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Japan, 308 m above the sea.

97 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 4,083 open records.

The most recorded are the Black Kite, the Little Egret and the Large-billed Crow.

18 species come for the summer, 29 for the winter and 1 only pass through.

1 are threatened worldwide, including Common Pochard.

The most species are recorded in March.

Miyajima Island
Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and watch

  • Official informationAccess, hours and rules from those who manage the place.Official site
  • Tsutsumigaura Recreation Parkcampsite · 3.8 km · 2 within 10 km
  • 渡辺旅館place to stay · 2.2 km · 35 within 10 km
  • Miyajimanearest town · 2.9 km in a straight line
  • Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport (IWK)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 15 km in a straight lineCar hire at KCZ airport (Nankoku)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The place and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

Itsukushima seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 6marked trails within 4 km駒ヶ林, 歴史文化体験コース, 地形・地質観察コース and 3 more
  • 20viewpoints within 5 km弥山山頂展望台, 獅子岩展望台, 大砂利 and 17 more
  • 19car parks within 3 km
  • 46restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • 2campsites within 10 kmTsutsumigaura Recreation Park
  • 35places to stay within 10 km渡辺旅館, ホテル, Miyajima Guest House 三國屋 and 32 more
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • observation towers within 6 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Itsukushima.

The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas21 mountains within 25 km
Mount Misen535 m · 1.2 kmMt. Gokurakuji693 m · 12 kmMount Ōmine1,050 m · 18 kmMount Amida837 m · 20 kmMount Ōgon222 m · 20 kmMount Sōko356 m · 20 kmMount Futaba139 m · 21 kmMount Takeda410 m · 24 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The place, as people saw it.

Bridge over low-tide (52285123808)
Sergiy Galyonkin from Raleigh, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
A Miyajima view Itsukushima Shrine
Rog01 from France · CC BY-SA 2.0
Daiganji Temple (Miyajima) - DSC02249
Daderot · CC0

Other places nearby.

Itsukushima

Japan

  • 52Birdyas Score
  • 97Species
  • 48Migrants
  • 1Threatened

Higashiyoka-higata

Japan · 227 km

  • 84Birdyas Score
  • 175Species
  • 95Migrants
  • 10Threatened

See the guide

Yonago Waterbird Sanctuary

Japan · 157 km

  • 55Birdyas Score
  • 89Species
  • 54Migrants
  • 3Threatened

See the guide

Lake Shinji

Japan · 144 km

  • 47Birdyas Score
  • 56Species
  • 26Migrants
  • 3Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q875301) · CC0
Birds4,083 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
See these recordsgbif.org
SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Islandyas, Coastya

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.