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Japan Japan Ramsar wetland

Kume Island

66 bird species recorded; the most in February and in April.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec39at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

松岡明芳 · CC BY-SA 3.0

This month here

2 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.

Brown-eared Bulbul
Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotisWinter visitorAlpsdake · CC BY-SA 3.0
Blue Rock Thrush
Blue Rock ThrushMonticola solitariusWinter visitorjose maria carretero palacios from jerez de los caballeros, españa · CC BY 2.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

66 species, counted.

46out 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).

  • 66Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 26Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 2ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 800Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 58 mAltitudeabove the sea
  • 4Raptors
  • 1Owls
  • 6Waders
  • 2Gulls & seabirds
  • 8Ducks & geese
  • 9Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 28Songbirds
  • 8Other 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 66 species.

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

Raptors4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Grey-faced BuzzardButastur indicus
  • OspreyPandion haliaetus
  • Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
  • Japanese BuzzardButeo japonicus
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Northern BoobokNinox japonica
Waders6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
  • Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
  • Gray-tailed TattlerTringa brevipes
  • Wood SandpiperTringa glareola
  • Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
  • Pheasant-tailed JacanaHydrophasianus chirurgus
Gulls & seabirds2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Whiskered TernChlidonias hybrida
  • Little TernSternula albifrons
Ducks & geese8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
  • Common PochardAythya ferinaVU
  • Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
  • Eurasian WigeonMareca penelope
  • Eurasian TealAnas crecca
  • Ferruginous DuckAythya nyrocaNT
  • GarganeySpatula querquedula
  • MallardAnas platyrhynchos
Herons, ibises & grebes9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
  • Grey HeronArdea cinerea
  • Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
  • Little EgretEgretta garzetta
  • Reef HeronEgretta sacra
  • Egretta intermediaEgretta intermedia
  • Black-faced SpoonbillPlatalea minorVU
  • Eurasian SpoonbillPlatalea leucorodia
  • Chinese Pond HeronArdeola bacchus
Songbirds28 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotis
  • Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchos
  • Blue Rock ThrushMonticola solitarius
  • Japanese Bush WarblerHorornis diphone
  • Zosterops japonicusZosterops japonicus
  • Pale ThrushTurdus pallidus
  • Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
  • Zitting CisticolaCisticola juncidis
  • Pacific SwallowHirundo javanica
  • Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
  • Barn swallowHirundo rustica
  • Daurian RedstartPhoenicurus auroreus
  • Brown ShrikeLanius cristatus
  • Grey-streaked FlycatcherMuscicapa griseisticta
  • Brown-headed ThrushTurdus chrysolaus
  • White WagtailMotacilla alba
  • Ryukyu MinivetPericrocotus tegimae
  • Spice FinchLonchura punctulata
  • Turdus eunomusTurdus eunomus
  • Arctic warblerPhylloscopus borealis
  • Eastern Yellow WagtailMotacilla tschutschensis
  • Japanese Paradise-FlycatcherTerpsiphone atrocaudata
  • Ashy MinivetPericrocotus divaricatus
  • Red-throated PipitAnthus cervinus
  • Red-flanked BluetailTarsiger cyanurus
  • Black DrongoDicrurus macrocercus
  • Stejneger's StonechatSaxicola stejnegeri
  • Turdus naumanniTurdus naumanni
Other birds8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Oriental Turtle DoveStreptopelia orientalis
  • CootFulica atra
  • Ruddy KingfisherHalcyon coromanda
  • Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
  • Common KingfisherAlcedo atthis
  • Barred ButtonquailTurnix suscitator
  • Ruddy-breasted CrakePorzana fusca
  • Japanese Pygmy WoodpeckerYungipicus kizuki

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 February and in April.

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

  1. Jan219°/18°65 mm
  2. Feb3920°/18°52 mm
  3. Mar1821°/19°90 mm
  4. Apr3923°/21°135 mm
  5. May2125°/24°214 mm
  6. Jun227°/27°306 mm
  7. Jul029°/28°133 mm
  8. Aug030°/29°172 mm
  9. Sep3129°/28°184 mm
  10. Oct3126°/25°119 mm
  11. Nov124°/23°81 mm
  12. Dec3521°/19°65 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Kume Island.

Island in Okinawa, Japan

Kume Island is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Japan.

66 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 800 open records.

The most recorded are the Brown-eared Bulbul, the Large-billed Crow and the Blue Rock Thrush.

7 species come for the summer, 17 for the winter and 2 only pass through.

2 are threatened worldwide, including Black-faced Spoonbill and Common Pochard.

The most species are recorded in February and in April.

Tounnahajou-Kumejima, Okinawa(登武那覇城からみる奥武島、はての浜)DSCF6530
松岡明芳 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and watch

  • シンリ浜キャンプ場campsite · 5.4 km · 1 within 10 km
  • ホテルガーデンヒルズplace to stay · 2.2 km · 20 within 10 km
  • Kumejimanearest town · 3.7 km in a straight line
  • Kumejima Airport (UEO)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 6 km in a straight lineCar hire at OKA airport (Naha)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.

Kume Island 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

  • 1observation towers within 6 km
  • 1visitor centres within 6 km観光案内所
  • 3viewpoints within 5 kmイーフビーチ展望台
  • 28car parks within 3 km
  • 9restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • 1campsites within 10 kmシンリ浜キャンプ場
  • 20places to stay within 10 kmホテルガーデンヒルズ, 民宿久米島別館, 民宿久米島 and 17 more
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • marked trails within 4 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 Kume Island.

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

Peakyas7 mountains within 25 km
Ō Dake · 2.1 kmMt. Uegusuku310 m · 2.5 kmTonnawa Yama · 3.0 kmUnishi-yama · 4.4 kmĀra Dake · 4.8 kmTakamashi · 6.7 kmSuharagusuku · 6.7 km
Islandyasthe island
Kume Island60 km²
Coastya2 beaches within 10 km
Ara-hama · 6.1 kmKana-hama · 9.1 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.

Kumeshima Sugar - Kumeshima Factory
Nao Iizuka · CC BY 2.0
Okinawa-Miifugaa-xl
Kumejima93_OKINAWA · CC BY 4.0
Mi-fuga-
Snap55 at Japanese Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0

Other places nearby.

Kume Island

Japan

  • 46Birdyas Score
  • 66Species
  • 26Migrants
  • 2Threatened

Lake Man

Japan · 93 km

  • 72Birdyas Score
  • 154Species
  • 73Migrants
  • 7Threatened

See the guide

Kumejima

Japan · 4 km

  • 42Birdyas Score
  • 57Species
  • 23Migrants
  • 1Threatened

See the guide

Kerama Islands

Japan · 60 km

  • 44Birdyas Score
  • 75Species
  • 29Migrants
  • 0Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q247515) · CC0
Birds800 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.