Abstract
The Philippines (556 species) and Japan (524 species) support rich avifaunas. 215 species, 138 of which are migratory, are common to the two countries. At present, some 19 species have been demonstrated to migrate from Japan to the Philippines, 12 of which were recorded during the MAPS project and the remaining 7 added through banded recoveries carried out by the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. An increase in regular banding activities in the Philippines would most likely boost the number of species known to migrate from both countries.
In terms of conservation, the Philippines contains some 87 threatened species, a majority of which are endemic forest species threatened by increasing loss of forest habitat. Japan has only 26 threatened species, only 6 of which are endemic. There are, however, 14 endangered species (including 11 migrants) that are found in both Japan and the Philippines. Measures must be adopted to strengthen cooperative conservation activities for both endemic Philippine birds and migratory species common to both countries.
