ML493326131
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Sounds
- Call
- Playback
- Playback not used
Media notes
Very faint chipping calls
Observation details
Shown to me by two other birders who were taking photos of them, and identified them as "shiraga-houjiro" which is the Japanese name. They were in winter plumage so there were less distinctive markings to go off of, but they were overall plain, almost sparrow-like buntings with no super distinctive marks on the face like most other buntings have even at this time of year. Some did have slightly reddish breast feathers. The other species that would be possible might be Rustic Bunting, but I did not see any crests on the heads and these birds seemed more drab than photos of Rustic Buntings that I have looked at. Unfortunately wasn't able to get a photo, but I did record them calling briefly, and this recording does seem similar to other Pine Bunting chip calls. According to the book Birds of Tobishima by Tatsuro Kametani, Pine Buntings are usually seen on the island around October 10, which supports this sighting. Despite being a popular birding destination in Japan, it seems that a good number of birders who come to Tobishima do not report their sightings to ebird, which makes me think that it is possible that "rare" visitors such as these are more common to the island than ebird can detect. In addition, despite being flagged as rare, Pine Buntings are reported in at least 10% of checklists for this location. However, I am not a local birder and am generally new to Japanese bird ID, so I think a review of this sighting is warranted.
Technical information
- Recorder
- Marantz PMD661 MKII
- Microphone
- Sennheiser ME67
- Accessories
- wind screen
- Original file size
- 31.51 MB