Birds to See in Japan in August
102 species listed for August · birdwatchers' records, 2019–2024
102 bird species on our list for Japan are recorded regularly in August. Of these, the most often recorded are Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Grey Heron, Carrion Crow, Barn Swallow and Rock Dove. New this month: Black-headed Gull, Hawfinch, White-tailed Sea-eagle and Dunlin and 17 more.
New in August21
Residents
(43)Recorded all year
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Passer montanusLC
Recorded all year
Grey Heron
Ardea cinereaLC
Recorded all year
Carrion Crow
Corvus coroneLC
Recorded all year
Rock Dove
Columba liviaLC
Recorded all year
Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carboLC
Recorded all year
Great White Egret
Ardea albaLC
Recorded all year
Pied Wagtail
Motacilla albaLC
Recorded all year
Little Egret
Egretta garzettaLC
Recorded all year
Little Grebe
Tachybaptus ruficollisLC
Recorded all year
Common Kingfisher
Alcedo atthisLC
Recorded all year
Blue Rock-thrush
Monticola solitariusLC
Recorded all year
Japanese Wagtail
Motacilla grandisLC
Recorded all year
Black-crowned Night-heron
Nycticorax nycticoraxLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Skylark
Alauda arvensisLC
Recorded all year
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchosLC
Recorded all year
Osprey
Pandion haliaetusLC
Recorded all year
Long-tailed Tit
Aegithalos caudatusLC
Recorded all year
Moorhen
Gallinula chloropusLC
Recorded all year
Grey Wagtail
Motacilla cinereaLC
Recorded all year
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos majorLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Nuthatch
Sitta europaeaLC
Recorded all year
Coal Tit
Periparus aterLC
Recorded all year
Kentish Plover
Charadrius alexandrinusLC
Recorded all year
Kestrel
Falco tinnunculusLC
Recorded all year
Willow Tit
Poecile montanusLC
Recorded all year
Marsh Tit
Poecile palustrisLC
Recorded all year
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Psittacula krameriLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Jay
Garrulus glandariusLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Haematopus ostralegusNT
Recorded all year
Mute Swan
Cygnus olorLC
Recorded all year
Mandarin Duck
Aix galericulataLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Wren
Troglodytes troglodytesLC
Recorded all year
Red-flanked Bluetail
Tarsiger cyanurusLC
Recorded all year
Treecreeper
Certhia familiarisLC
Recorded all year
Greater Scaup
Aythya marilaLC
Recorded all year
Scaly-breasted Munia
Lonchura punctulataLC
Recorded all year
Bullfinch
Pyrrhula pyrrhulaLC
Recorded all year
Reed Bunting
Emberiza schoeniclusLC
Regularly Oct–Aug
Goldcrest
Regulus regulusLC
Recorded all year
Muscovy Duck
Cairina moschataLC
Recorded all year
Crested Myna
Acridotheres cristatellusLC
Recorded all year
Wryneck
Jynx torquillaLC
Recorded all year
Eurasian Woodcock
Scolopax rusticolaLC
Regularly Oct–Aug
Summer visitors
(20)Arrives to breed; scarce or absent in winter
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rusticaLC
Regularly Mar–Oct
Black-tailed Gull
Larus crassirostrisLC
Recorded all year
Little Ringed Plover
Thinornis dubiusLC
Recorded all year
Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopusLC
Regularly Jan–Oct
Bar-tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponicaNT
Regularly Mar–Oct
Sand Martin
Riparia ripariaLC
Regularly Apr–Oct
Little Tern
Sternula albifronsLC
Regularly Apr–Aug
Red-necked Phalarope
Phalaropus lobatusLC
Regularly Apr–Oct
Common Tern
Sterna hirundoLC
Regularly Mar–Dec
Common Pheasant
Phasianus colchicusLC
Regularly Nov–Sep
Hobby
Falco subbuteoLC
Regularly May–Oct
Rock Ptarmigan
Lagopus mutaLC
Regularly Apr–Oct
Pomarine Jaeger
Stercorarius pomarinusLC
Regularly Feb–Dec
Purple Heron
Ardea purpureaLC
Regularly Nov–Sep
Roseate Tern
Sterna dougalliiLC
Regularly May–Aug
Sooty Shearwater
Ardenna griseaNT
Regularly Apr–Oct
Indian Peafowl
Pavo cristatusLC
Regularly Mar–Jan
Fulmar
Fulmarus glacialisLC
Regularly Feb–Nov
Long-tailed Jaeger
Stercorarius longicaudusLC
Regularly Mar–Aug
Leach's Storm-petrel
Hydrobates leucorhousVU
Regularly Apr–Nov
Winter visitors
(25)Present outside the breeding season
Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucosLC
Recorded all year
Greenshank
Tringa nebulariaLC
Regularly Jul–May
Grey Plover
Pluvialis squatarolaLC
Recorded all year
Sanderling
Calidris albaLC
Regularly Jul–May
Pacific Golden-Plover
Pluvialis fulvaLC
Regularly Jul–May
Coot
Fulica atraLC
Recorded all year
White-tailed Sea-eagle
Haliaeetus albicillaLC
Regularly Aug–Feb
Green Sandpiper
Tringa ochropusLC
Regularly Jul–May
Pochard
Aythya ferinaVU
Recorded all year
Great Crested Grebe
Podiceps cristatusLC
Recorded all year
Northern Pintail
Anas acutaLC
Recorded all year
Black-headed Gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundusLC
Regularly Aug–Jun
Swan Goose
Anser cygnoidesEN
Regularly Jul–May
Dunlin
Calidris alpinaLC
Regularly Aug–May
Redshank
Tringa totanusLC
Recorded all year
Common Snipe
Gallinago gallinagoLC
Regularly Aug–May
Common Merganser
Mergus merganserLC
Recorded all year
Curlew
Numenius arquataNT
Regularly Jul–May
Sparrowhawk
Accipiter nisusLC
Regularly Aug–May
Hawfinch
Coccothraustes coccothraustesLC
Regularly Aug–Jun
Temminck's Stint
Calidris temminckiiLC
Regularly Aug–May
Long-billed Dowitcher
Limnodromus scolopaceusNT
Regularly Aug–Apr
Eurasian Spoonbill
Platalea leucorodiaLC
Regularly Jul–May
Ringed Plover
Charadrius hiaticulaLC
Regularly Aug–Apr
Garganey
Spatula querquedulaLC
Regularly Aug–Jun
Passage migrants
(14)Seen mainly in spring and autumn migration
Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareolaLC
Regularly Feb–Dec
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpresLC
Regularly Jan–Oct
Ruff
Calidris pugnaxLC
Regularly Apr–Oct
Black-tailed Godwit
Limosa limosaNT
Regularly Apr–Nov
Red Knot
Calidris canutusNT
Regularly Apr–Nov
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Calidris acuminataVU
Regularly Apr–Nov
Arctic Jaeger
Stercorarius parasiticusLC
Regularly Apr–Nov
Little Stint
Calidris minutaLC
Regularly Apr–Jan
Curlew Sandpiper
Calidris ferrugineaNT
Regularly Apr–Sep
Pectoral Sandpiper
Calidris melanotosLC
Regularly Aug–Oct
Black Swan
Cygnus atratusLC
Regularly Jul–Mar
White-winged Tern
Chlidonias leucopterusLC
Regularly May–Sep
Grey Phalarope
Phalaropus fulicariusLC
Regularly Mar–Aug
Eurasian Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaoctoLC
Regularly May–Aug
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made