Niigata Prefecture is located in the heavy winter snow region along the Japan Sea side of central Honshu. The first record for the Japanese Green Pigeon Sphenurus sieboldii in the prefecture was obtained in 1960, and the second in 1963. Since then, regular sightings have been reported at bird counts and other filed researches conducted by the Niigata Prefecture Branch of the Japanese Wild Bird Society. In recent years, records have been obtained during the spring northward migration for Sado Island and Awa Island (offshore islanda) as well. The Japanese Green Pigeon is now considered to be a fairly common species in Niigata Prefecture, but only in small numbers.
The Niigata Prefecture Wildlife Rescue Center, established in 1971, and the Niigata Prefecture Wildbird Center, established in 1990, have reported rescues of injured Japanse Green Pigeon. The data for 1976 to 2001 is summarized in Table 1 by month (top line). Total numbers of rescues are reported on the second line, and adults and juveniles respectively on the third and forth lines. As can be seen, a total of 62 pigeons were rescued over the time period, with the most rescues occurring in October, followed by June and November. This data indicates two peaks during the migration seasons. Immature birds were taken in only during late autumn, from October through December. No rescues at all were recorded for the winter months. Although winter sightings of this species have been reported for Niigata Prefecture, the data indicate that very few individuals winter over in this area. Twenty of the rescued pigeons were banded and released.

View full abstract