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Japan Japan Ramsar wetland

Lake Tōfutsu

205 bird species recorded; the most in May.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec137at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Soica2001 ( talk ) · Public domain

This month here

60 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.

Whooper Swan
Whooper SwanCygnus cygnusWinter visitorPascal Aleixandre · CC BY-SA 3.0
Common Goldeneye
Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangulaWinter visitorCalibas · CC BY-SA 3.0
Brown-eared Bulbul
Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotisWinter visitorAlpsdake · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cinereous Tit
Cinereous TitParus cinereusWinter visitorImran Shah from Islamabad, Pakistan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Goosander
GoosanderMergus merganserWinter visitorTony Hisgett · CC BY 2.0
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanusWinter visitorMatt Tillett from Cumberland, MD, USA · CC BY 2.0
Mallard
MallardAnas platyrhynchosResidentTetiana.iefimenko · CC BY 4.0
Marsh Tit
Marsh TitPoecile palustrisWinter visitorStephan Sprinz · CC BY 4.0
Northern Pintail
Northern PintailAnas acutaWinter visitorJ.M.Garg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Eurasian Nuthatch
Eurasian NuthatchSitta europaeaWinter visitorChme82 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Steller's Sea-eagleVU
Steller's Sea-eagleHaliaeetus pelagicusWinter visitorSaschathegerman · CC BY-SA 2.0
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian JayGarrulus glandariusWinter visitorZeynel Cebeci · CC BY-SA 4.0
White-tailed Eagle
White-tailed EagleHaliaeetus albicillaWinter visitorFerdinando sacchetti · CC BY-SA 4.0
Coal Tit
Coal TitPeriparus aterWinter visitorsoumyajit nandy from Kolkata, India · CC BY-SA 2.0
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos majorWinter visitorПлешков Алексей · CC BY-SA 3.0
Carrion Crow
Carrion CrowCorvus coroneResidentAlexis Lours · CC BY 4.0
Poecile varius
Poecile variusPoecile variusWinter visitorAlpsdake · CC BY-SA 3.0
Willow Tit
Willow TitPoecile montanusWinter visitorUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Eurasian SparrowhawkAccipiter nisusWinter visitorMeneer Zjeroen · CC BY 2.0
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-breasted MerganserMergus serratorWinter visitorChannel City Camera Club from Santa Barbara, US · CC BY 2.0
Large-billed Crow
Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchosResidentTisha Mukherjee · CC BY-SA 4.0
American ScoterNT
American ScoterMelanitta americanaWinter visitorPeter Massas · CC BY-SA 2.0
Slaty-backed Gull
Slaty-backed GullLarus schistisagusResidentOriginal: ほくなん . This edit: MPF · Public domain
Tufted Duck
Tufted DuckAythya fuligulaWinter visitorAlexis Lours · CC BY 4.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

205 species, counted.

86out 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).

  • 205Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 148Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 12ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 10,055Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 12Raptors
  • 1Owls
  • 42Waders
  • 16Gulls & seabirds
  • 32Ducks & geese
  • 14Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 1Storks & cranes
  • 68Songbirds
  • 19Other 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 205 species.

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

Raptors12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Black KiteMilvus migrans
  • Steller's Sea-eagleHaliaeetus pelagicusVU
  • White-tailed EagleHaliaeetus albicilla
  • European HobbyFalco subbuteo
  • Eurasian SparrowhawkAccipiter nisus
  • Japanese BuzzardButeo japonicus
  • Eastern Marsh-harrierCircus spilonotus
  • Rough-legged BuzzardButeo lagopus
  • Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
  • MerlinFalco columbarius
  • OspreyPandion haliaetus
  • Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
Waders42 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Gray-tailed TattlerTringa brevipes
  • Japanese SnipeGallinago hardwickiiNT
  • Red-necked StintCalidris ruficollisNT
  • Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
  • DunlinCalidris alpinaNT
  • Bar-tailed godwitLimosa lapponicaNT
  • Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
  • Terek SandpiperXenus cinereus
  • Far Eastern CurlewNumenius madagascariensis
  • Wood SandpiperTringa glareola
  • Pacific Golden PloverPluvialis fulva
  • Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
  • Black-tailed GodwitLimosa limosaNT
  • Great KnotCalidris tenuirostris
  • Spotted RedshankTringa erythropus
  • Eurasian OystercatcherHaematopus ostralegusNT
  • Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
  • Long-toed StintCalidris subminuta
  • Charadrius mongolusCharadrius mongolus
  • Common SnipeGallinago gallinago
  • Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
  • RuffCalidris pugnax
  • Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
  • Red KnotCalidris canutusNT
  • Red-necked PhalaropePhalaropus lobatus
  • Little ringed ploverCharadrius dubius
  • Broad-billed SandpiperCalidris falcinellusVU
  • Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaVU
  • Sharp-tailed SandpiperCalidris acuminataVU
  • Temminck's StintCalidris temminckii
  • SanderlingCalidris alba
  • Little StintCalidris minuta
  • Little CurlewNumenius minutus
  • Marsh SandpiperTringa stagnatilis
  • Pectoral SandpiperCalidris melanotos
  • RedshankTringa totanus
  • Green SandpiperTringa ochropus
  • Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
  • Eurasian WoodcockScolopax rusticola
  • Spoon-billed SandpiperCalidris pygmaeaCR
  • Pied AvocetRecurvirostra avosetta
  • Long-billed dowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceusNT
Gulls & seabirds16 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Slaty-backed GullLarus schistisagus
  • Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
  • Black-tailed GullLarus crassirostris
  • Common GullLarus canus
  • Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreus
  • Common TernSterna hirundo
  • Vega GullLarus vegae
  • Glaucous-winged GullLarus glaucescens
  • Red-throated LoonGavia stellata
  • Rhinoceros AukletCerorhinca monocerata
  • Pacific LoonGavia pacifica
  • Black-throated DiverGavia arctica
  • Black-legged kittiwakeRissa tridactylaVU
  • Whiskered TernChlidonias hybrida
  • Common MurreUria aalge
  • Pomarine SkuaStercorarius pomarinus
Ducks & geese32 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • MallardAnas platyrhynchos
  • Whooper SwanCygnus cygnus
  • GoosanderMergus merganser
  • GadwallMareca strepera
  • Northern PintailAnas acuta
  • Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
  • Eurasian WigeonMareca penelope
  • Greater ScaupAythya marila
  • Tundra Bean GooseAnser serrirostris
  • Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
  • Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
  • Eurasian TealAnas crecca
  • Harlequin DuckHistrionicus histrionicus
  • SmewMergellus albellus
  • Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
  • Common PochardAythya ferinaVU
  • Chinese Spot-billed DuckAnas zonorhyncha
  • Falcated DuckMareca falcata
  • Greater White-fronted GooseAnser albifrons
  • American ScoterMelanitta americanaNT
  • Stejneger's ScoterMelanitta stejnegeri
  • Bewick's SwanCygnus columbianus
  • GarganeySpatula querquedula
  • Long-tailed duckClangula hyemalisVU
  • Common ShelduckTadorna tadorna
  • Taiga Bean GooseAnser fabalis
  • Cackling GooseBranta hutchinsii
  • Mandarin DuckAix galericulata
  • Snow gooseAnser caerulescens
  • Baikal TealSibirionetta formosa
  • CanvasbackAythya valisineria
  • Ferruginous DuckAythya nyrocaNT
Herons, ibises & grebes14 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Grey HeronArdea cinerea
  • Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
  • Japanese CormorantPhalacrocorax capillatus
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
  • Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
  • Eared GrebePodiceps nigricollis
  • Eurasian SpoonbillPlatalea leucorodia
  • Red-necked GrebePodiceps grisegena
  • Pelagic CormorantPhalacrocorax pelagicus
  • Horned GrebePodiceps auritusVU
  • Black-faced SpoonbillPlatalea minorVU
  • Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatus
  • Little EgretEgretta garzetta
  • Egretta intermediaEgretta intermedia
Storks & cranes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Red-crowned CraneGrus japonensisVU
Songbirds68 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Grey-capped GreenfinchChloris sinica
  • Carrion CrowCorvus corone
  • Stejneger's StonechatSaxicola stejnegeri
  • Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchos
  • Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotis
  • Cinereous TitParus cinereus
  • Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
  • Marsh TitPoecile palustris
  • Chestnut-eared BuntingEmberiza fucata
  • Masked buntingEmberiza personata
  • White WagtailMotacilla alba
  • African StonechatSaxicola torquatus
  • Eurasian NuthatchSitta europaea
  • Black-browed Reed WarblerAcrocephalus bistrigiceps
  • Coal TitPeriparus ater
  • Long-tailed RosefinchCarpodacus sibiricus
  • Common Reed BuntingEmberiza schoeniclus
  • Eurasian JayGarrulus glandarius
  • SkylarkAlauda arvensis
  • Japanese Bush WarblerHorornis diphone
  • Siberian RubythroatLuscinia calliope
  • Middendorff's Grasshopper-warblerLocustella ochotensis
  • White-cheeked StarlingSpodiopsar cineraceus
  • Poecile variusPoecile varius
  • Eastern Crowned Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus coronatus
  • Lanceolated WarblerLocustella lanceolata
  • Bull-headed ShrikeLanius bucephalus
  • Chestnut-cheeked StarlingAgropsar philippensis
  • Passer cinnamomeusPasser cinnamomeus
  • Willow TitPoecile montanus
  • Turdus eunomusTurdus eunomus
  • Narcissus FlycatcherFicedula narcissina
  • Sakhalin Grasshopper WarblerLocustella amnicola
  • BramblingFringilla montifringilla
  • Black-faced buntingEmberiza spodocephala
  • Asian StubtailUrosphena squameiceps
  • HawfinchCoccothraustes coccothraustes
  • Zosterops japonicusZosterops japonicus
  • Janpanese ThrushTurdus cardis
  • Eurasian TreecreeperCerthia familiaris
  • Brown-headed ThrushTurdus chrysolaus
  • Eurasian SiskinSpinus spinus
  • Meadow BuntingEmberiza cioides
  • Common RedpollAcanthis flammea
  • Barn swallowHirundo rustica
  • Common crossbillLoxia curvirostra
  • Sand MartinRiparia riparia
  • Blue-and-white FlycatcherCyanoptila cyanomelana
  • Asian House MartinDelichon dasypus
  • Eastern Yellow WagtailMotacilla tschutschensis
  • Muscicapa latirostrisMuscicapa latirostris
  • Japanese WaxwingBombycilla japonicaNT
  • Japanese WagtailMotacilla grandis
  • Oriental Reed WarblerAcrocephalus orientalis
  • GoldcrestRegulus regulus
  • Bohemian WaxwingBombycilla garrulus
  • Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
  • Blue Rock ThrushMonticola solitarius
  • Rustic BuntingEmberiza rusticaNT
  • Japanese GrosbeakEophona personata
  • BullfinchPyrrhula pyrrhula
  • Pine GrosbeakPinicola enucleator
  • Russet SparrowPasser rutilans
  • Brown DipperCinclus pallasii
  • Kamchatka Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus examinandus
  • Northern ShrikeLanius borealis
  • Turdus naumanniTurdus naumanni
  • Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
Other birds19 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Oriental Turtle DoveStreptopelia orientalis
  • Common CuckooCuculus canorus
  • Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major
  • Rock DoveColumba livia
  • Japanese Pygmy WoodpeckerYungipicus kizuki
  • Common KingfisherAlcedo atthis
  • White-bellied Green-PigeonTreron sieboldii
  • WryneckJynx torquilla
  • Oriental CuckooCuculus optatus
  • Eastern Water RailRallus indicus
  • CootFulica atra
  • Pacific SwiftApus pacificus
  • Lesser Spotted WoodpeckerDryobates minor
  • Needle-tailed SwiftHirundapus caudacutus
  • White-backed WoodpeckerDendrocopos leucotos
  • Grey-headed WoodpeckerPicus canus
  • Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
  • Crested KingfisherMegaceryle lugubris
  • Black WoodpeckerDryocopus martius

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 May.

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

  1. Jan60-4°/-9°52 mm
  2. Feb44-4°/-10°40 mm
  3. Mar591°/-6°49 mm
  4. Apr957°/0°54 mm
  5. May13712°/5°76 mm
  6. Jun10717°/10°86 mm
  7. Jul10421°/14°103 mm
  8. Aug10723°/16°134 mm
  9. Sep12220°/14°109 mm
  10. Oct11814°/7°98 mm
  11. Nov826°/1°68 mm
  12. Dec70-1°/-5°69 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Lake Tōfutsu.

Lake in Japan

Lake Tōfutsu is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Japan.

205 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 10,055 open records.

The most recorded are the Grey-capped Greenfinch, the Mallard and the Black Kite.

91 species come for the summer, 52 for the winter and 5 only pass through.

12 are threatened worldwide, including Steller's Sea-eagle, Grey Plover and Red-crowned Crane.

The most species are recorded in May.

Lake Tofutsu 2011
Soica2001 ( talk ) · Public domain

Get there and watch

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.

Lake Tōfutsu 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

  • 3visitor centres within 6 km濤沸湖水鳥・湿地センター, 小清水町ツーリストセンター
  • 1viewpoints within 5 km北浜駅展望台
  • 7car parks within 3 km
  • 3campsites within 10 km浜小清水前浜キャンプ場, 果樹園キャンプ, ふくろうの渓谷
  • 2places to stay within 10 km樹林, ホテル ひがしもこと
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • observation towers within 6 km
  • marked trails within 4 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 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 Lake Tōfutsu.

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

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

Photographs

The place, as people saw it.

Tofutsu-ko Waterwole and Wetland Center, Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan, 白鳥公園, 網走, 北海道, 日本, 濤沸湖水鳥, 湿地センター, あばしりし, ほっかいどう, にっぽん, にほん (16513842407)
bryan... · CC BY-SA 2.0
Tofutsu-ko Waterwole and Wetland Center, Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan, 白鳥公園, 網走, 北海道, 日本, 濤沸湖水鳥, 湿地センター, あばしりし, ほっかいどう, にっぽん, にほん (16513843987)
bryan... · CC BY-SA 2.0
Swan at Tofutsu-ko Waterwole and Wetland Center, Abashiri, Hokkaido; March 2015
bryan... from Taipei, Taiwan · CC BY-SA 2.0

Other places nearby.

Lake Tōfutsu

Japan

  • 86Birdyas Score
  • 205Species
  • 148Migrants
  • 12Threatened

Notsuke Peninsula

Japan · 81 km

  • 83Birdyas Score
  • 160Species
  • 95Migrants
  • 10Threatened

See the guide

Shunkunitai

Japan · 110 km

  • 86Birdyas Score
  • 208Species
  • 131Migrants
  • 11Threatened

See the guide

Lake Furen

Japan · 104 km

  • 81Birdyas Score
  • 162Species
  • 84Migrants
  • 10Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q6478187) · CC0
Birds10,055 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, Lakeyas

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.