Abstract
One Gray's Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella fasciolata amnicola, was captured and banded on September 24, 2012, on the premises of the Takarazuka Golf Club located in Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. This is the first banding record of L. f. amnicola in Hyogo Prefecture, although there have been several records of sightings. The bird was captured using a mist net extended in a thicket in which the Canadian goldenrod, Solidago canadensis var. scabra; Japanese rose, Rosa multiflora; and kudzu, Pueraria lobata, grew together at the edge of mixed forests composed of deciduous broad-leaved trees and broad-leaved evergreen trees. I identified the species and subspecies of the banded bird on the basis of comparisons with similar species in terms of natural wing length, difference in the lengths of the outermost and central tail feathers, and the absence of upperpart and underpart streaks. The bird was confirmed to be a first-winter juvenile, taking into consideration that all its wing and tail feathers were new, iris color was greyish brown, and skull ossification was incomplete; however, sex could not be confirmed as this species has little sexual dimorphism. Some noteworthy behaviors were also observed before this bird was captured. Since there are few banding records of this species during migration, I have summarized previous banding data and related papers and articles, hoping that this information will be helpful in future bird-banding studies.
