From the records of penguins in the materials (documents, photographs of stuffed penguins and films) from the Shirase Antarctic Expedition (from 1910 to 1912), the author describes the attitude of expeditioners to the penguins and the role of penguins in the expedition. Penguins were regarded as the preferred souvenir. The expeditioners spent much effort catching penguins, and caught approximately 50 individuals of three species: Erect-crested Penguins Eudyptes sclateri, Adélie Penguins Pygoscelis adeliae, and Emperor Penguins Aptenodytes forsteri. Their bodies were temporarily stuffed on the ship and brought back to Japan. Today, a small number of these stuffed penguins are kept at several museum- related facilities or by private individuals. In those days, live penguins photographed by the expeditioners in Antarctica were also shown in the film "Japan's Antarctic Exploration''. These stuffed penguins and this film helped familiarize Japanese people with penguins. Captain Shirase had to give lectures with this film all over the country for a long time in order to repay debt (suspected to be \20,000 ~ \40,000) incurred by this expedition. His activities popularized knowledge of Antarctica and penguins in Japan, and the images of penguins and Antarctica being closely connected. Its influence extended to newspaper articles related to penguins until the early Showa period.

Iijima's Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus ijimae is a summer visitor, endemic to the Izu and Tokara Islands, and its habitat range is especially restricted in Tokara. In this study, the detailed distribution and density of the Tokara population were investigated, together with its ecological, morphological, and genetic characteristics. The distribution of singing males was surveyed on five islands within the species' known distribution range, and the warbler was most abundant on the largest, Nakanoshima, but less abundant on Kuchinoshima, Suwanosejima, and Akusekijima, and undetected on Tairajima. During the period of 2001 – 2023, the abundance on Nakanoshima was judged stable from trim analysis based on the annual route census data (averaging 1.57 individuals /ha). The breeding ecology on Nakanoshima was similar to that reported in the Izu Islands, but the nest sites were more restricted to the branches of the bamboo Pleioblastus linearis, growing thickly under the evergreen forest. It is known to be difficult to identify the sex of this species from external characteristics, but the sex of the captured individuals could be clearly determined by DNA- based methods using universal primers. Mean external measurements of the Tokara males were generally smaller than those of the Izu males, and the differences in tarsus and total head lengths were significant (P < 0.05). The results of the probabilistic principal component analysis also supported the trend that the Tokara males are smaller. Female measurements could not be examined due to insufficient samples. Four haplotypes, two each from two regions, were identified from the mitochondrial cytochrome b region partial sequences (936 bp), and haplotypes from each region were placed in two different clusters of the neighbor- joining tree, respectively. The average genetic distance between regional populations was 0.064 in nucleotide substitution rates, suggesting that the two isolated populations are best placed in two independent conservation units.

We studied habitat use and behavior of two pairs of Red-crowned Cranes Grus japonensis in Chokubetsu, Onbetsu-cho, Kushiro, Hokkaido, during the chick rearing season. Both pairs used agricultural habitats such as wheat fields and pastures. Notably, the pair without chicks used pastures significantly more than expected. Both pairs had smaller areas than those of Red-crowned Cranes breeding in wetlands, suggesting that the agricultural habitat is a suitable foraging habitat presumably because of abundant nutritious foods. The pair without chicks used a larger area than the pair with a chick, while the latter used larch plantations more frequently than the former. When the pair without chicks entered the area of the mated pair with a chick, the latter threatened and drove out the former. The pair without chicks spent more time for preening and traveling, while the pair with a chick used more time for vigilance and foraging.

Line censuses have been undertaken at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo, to reveal the avifauna, since 1965. We report results of the monthly line census from June 2017 to March 2023. The line census was conducted on a route of 4.1 km between 9:00 – 12:00. We also conducted a twice-yearly capture census with 5 – 11 mist nets (6 m or 12 m length), except for 2019, in order to supplement line censuses. We observed 21,799 individuals of 70 species, with 13 species being numerically dominant (occupying > 90%). From December to March, ca. 25 species were observed; but thereafter the number of species declined and reached a minimum of 15 species or less in August and September, and then switched to an increase during October and November. Compared to the preceding report (2013 – 2017), the numbers of Mareca falcata, Aythya ferina, Cuculus poliocephalus, Columba livia, Fulica atra, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, Nycticorax nycticorax, Egretta garzetta, Pandion haliaetus, Strix uralensis, Terpsiphone atrocaudata, Cyanopica cyanus, Corvus corone, Periparus ater, Urosphena squameiceps, Phylloscopus examinandus, Turdus cardis, T. eunomus, and Cyanoptila cyanomelana had increased, whereas those of Anas crecca, Aythya fuligula, Cuculus canorus, Gallinula chloropus, Accipiter gularis, Butastur indicus, Dendrocopos major, Picus awokera, Falco peregrinus, Garrulus glandarius, Poecile montanus, Phylloscopus coronatus, Troglodytes troglodytes, Spodiopsar cineraceus, Muscicapa griseisticta, Fringilla montifringilla, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, Eophona personata, Emberiza cioides, and E. rustica had decreased. Anas zonorhyncha, Streptopelia orientalis, Tachybaptus ruficollis, Ardea cinerea, Accipiter gentilis, Alcedo atthis, Yungipicus kizuki, Corvus macrorhynchos, Sittiparus varius, Parus minor, Hypsipetes amaurotis, Horornis diphone, Aegithalos caudatus, Zosterops japonicus, Passer montanus, Motacilla alba, and Chloris sinica were regarded as resident species. Hirundo rustica and the above 16 species were thought to breed in or around the study area. We captured a total of 234 individuals, representing 18 species, including Spinus spinus which was not recorded in the line census.

We monitored the breeding performance of Black-tailed Gulls Larus crassirostris on Kabushima Island from 2012 to 2023. The island has been connected to Honshu Island by a manmade isthmus since the 1940's. The mean number of eggs per nest on 13 – 20 May varied between 1.57 and 2.16. The number of chicks on 1 – 15 July per number of eggs counted on 13 – 20 May varied between 0.01 and 0.29.

Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) is a method developed in North America to monitor local avifauna by constant-effort mist netting and banding during breeding seasons across years. Following the protocol of MAPS, we have been studying the avifauna of Fukushima, Japan since 2012. Here, we report the results obtained from 2021 to 2023. Results including adult abundance index, productivity index, and apparent adult survival rate from the entire study period (2012 – 2023) were also analyzed. Adult abundance of Japanese Bush Warbler Cettia diphone at a study site in Minami-soma City was relatively stable. At a study site in Iitate Village however, adult abundance of this species fluctuated greatly. Adult abundance of the Oriental Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orientalis in Minami-Soma has been generally increasing during the study years while that of the Oriental Greenfinch Chloris sinica has increased in the later years (2018 – 2020). Adult survival of the Oriental Reed Warbler from 2012 – 2013 to 2021 – 2022 in Minami-Soma was 0.21 – 0.36 (average = 0.27).