Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius is designated as an endangered species in Japan, where it plays an important role in forest ecosystems. Unlike other woodpecker species in Japan, Black Woodpecker excavates cavities in living-tree trunks to obtain food resources during winter. Understanding their foraging habitat preferences during winter, especially in relation to how limited food availability may negatively affect their survival, is important for promoting conservation efforts. We searched for living trees with signs of excavation by Black Woodpecker in the mountainous regions of Sapporo City, Hokkaido,to analyze winter foraging trees and habitats. We found that they preferred to forage on large-diameter trees in lowland forests, especially in habitats with many conifer snags and a high ratio of coniferous to deciduous trees. They also significantly preferred to forage on two tree species: Japanese Larch Larix kaempferi and White Birch Betula platyphylla,.Maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling was used to estimate suitable foraging habitat for them in winter. The MaxEnt model indicated that lower altitude, higher proportions of larch forest, gentler slopes, and wetter terrain increased the probability of suitable winter foraging habitat, while north-facing slopes showed a lower probability of suitable foraging habitat compared to other aspects. Our results suggest that Black Woodpecker prefer to forage in lowland forest close to urban areas of Sapporo City during winter. These findings highlight the need to preserve mature forests at low elevations as an important role in conserving suitable winter foraging habitat. Furthermore, identifying suitable winter foraging habitats of Black Woodpecker, which include important structures for biodiversity such as large-diameter trees and snags, may contribute to the efficient zoning of areas with high biodiversity.

Collisions with windows represent a significant threat to birds, and effective countermeasures are urgently needed. Films that cut UV light are a potential solution, but have not previously been used in Japan. A survey of bird-window collisions was conducted on the campus of Tottori University of Environmental Studies, Tottori Prefecture, western Japan. Over a period of 38 months, collisions of 65 individuals of 20 species, belonging to 16 families, were recorded. Notably, Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus collided most frequently, especially during June and July. Various factors were identified as potentially being involved in avian-window collisions, including the surrounding environment. Furthermore, a field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of countermeasures using UV-cut film. The results indicated that collisions with corridor windows fitted with UV-cut film were significantly reduced.

We attached light-level geolocators to three Tiger Shrike Lanius tigrinus, an endangered species in Japan, and succeeded in tracking their autumn migration. All three individuals migrated westward across Honshu from their breeding areas in northwest Honshu, then southward along the Asian continent, passing through the eastern Indochina Peninsula to their wintering grounds in Borneo. The eastern Indochina Peninsula is considered an important migratory stopover area, while Borneo Island is considered to be an important wintering area. Data were obtained from one of the individuals in spring, as it returned to its breeding grounds after following the same migratory route as in autumn, then passing through the Ryukyu Islands on its way towards Honshu. Although the number of tracks was limited, this study is the first to indicate migratory routes, specific stopover sites, and wintering areas of Tiger Shrike breeding in Japan.

I investigated the abundance of geese and cranes at wetlands along the Chitose River flood plain, considering the extent of open water areas. Water bodies serve as stopover sites for migratory White-fronted Goose Auser albifrons, but reductions in open water areas negatively affected waterfowl abundance. The same wetlands also served as breeding habitat and stopover sites for Red-crowned Crane Grus japanensis, including while molting. By creating wetlands and managing them effectively in "zones that make use of nature" in each wetland area, it is thought that the Chitose River flood plain can be used more wisely as green infrastructure that preserves biodiversity.

We tracked the fall migration of a juvenile Japanese Night Heron Gorsachius goisagi using a solar-powered Argos transmitter. The heron was captured and released in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan. It migrated through Tanegashima and Nakanoshima (islands), 160 km northwest of Amami Oshima and 500 km west of the Luzon Islands (Philippines), and finally reached 50 km offshore of Colibra Island, near Luzon. The direction of the bird's route changed greatly towards the east over the South China Sea as a consequence of strong, typhoon-related winds. This report describes the first case of tracking the migration of Japanese Night Heron and also provides an example of a bird changing its migratory route in response to a typhoon.

There have been no verified breeding records of subadult Red-crowned Crane Grus japonensis in the Japanese population. However, during the 2023 breeding season, a pair, consisting of an adult female and a two-year-old subadult male, was observed in central Hokkaido, successfully hatching one chick. Although both parents displayed chick-rearing behavior, the chick went missing approximately five days after hatching. Later the same season, the pair moved to an adjacent retention basin and attempted to nest a second time, laying and incubating two eggs in June. While these eggs did not hatch, this event provides the first record of both hatching success and renesting, within a single breeding season, by a wild Red-crowned Crane pair involving a subadult individual. This finding highlights the importance of conservation measures for subadult-inclusive crane pairs.

The impacts of surface plowing of rice fields during winter on avian populations was surveyed at four areas of rice fields in Tonegawa Lowland, in December 2014, January 2015, and February 2015. We compared numbers of bird species and numbers of individual birds between rice stubble fields left unplowed and neighboring rice stubble fields that were plowed in. In all four areas, rice fields that were left unplowed attracted more species and more individuals than rice field that were plowed. Surface plowing of rice fields during the fallow season has a negative impact on birds.