Birds of Tokachi District, Hokkaido

1. Birds of Shintoku-yama and its surrounding area

Abstract

Surveys on birds were carried out in four types of habitats, deciduous broad-leaved forests, young conifer plantations, cultivated fields and residential areas at Shintoku, Tokachi District, south-eastern Hokkaido from 1976 to 1979.
A total of 76 species of birds were recorded in the study areas. Of them Charadrius placidus was recorded for the first time from Tokachi District.
In the deciduous forest of Shintoku-yama 60 species of birds were observed. Dominant species were Phylloscopus occipitalis, Ficedula narcissina, Parus palustris and P. major in summer and were Parus palustris, Sitta europaea, Pyrrhula pyrrhula and Corvus macrorhynchos in winter. The avifauna of the deciduous forest along the Sahoro River was similar to that of the forest of Shintoku-yama. In young conifer plantations 17 species of birds were found in summer. Lanius bucephalus, Emberiza cioides and Uragus sibiricus were dominant species there. The avifauna was remarkably poor in comparison to that of deciduous forests above mentioned. In the cultivated field 30 species of birds including some forest birds were observed because of presence of woods and shelter-belts in the area. Passer montanus was the most abundant, and then Streptopelia orientalis, Emberiza spodocephala and Corvus corone were dominant species. In the residential areas only Passer montanus was dominant.
There was a tendency that the species diversity was high in deciduous forest, and was low in young plantations and the residential areas.