Daily and seasonal variation in water and sand bathing, and drinking of birds in a residential area of central Japan

Abstract

In the residential area of Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, the total number of individual birds that were observed water bathing, sand bathing, or drinking was recorded from 2010 through 2017. For Eurasian Tree Sparrow (3,875 individuals) water bathing peaked in September, sand bathing peaked in August, and drinking peaked in June. Over the course of a day, water bathing peaked at 14:00, and sand bathing and drinking both peaked at 18:00.