Eli Sooker

The fascinating brown-eared bulbul, common in Japan but not as ordinary as you might think!

View this post on Instagram

Brown-eared bulbul ヒヨドリ Though common throughout Japan, this species is only found here, northern Philippines, Taiwan and Sakhalin (small island of Russia). One might take them for granted here, but they might be my favourite bird in Japan… Their colours of mottled bluish-silver and the distinctive brown patch look beautiful, and as I've tried to capture, they have really quite a cute face. Still working on bird pics from a distance, but I do like the first photo particularly. She/he looks so happy about that insect. Spring has come! Plus cherry blossom pink in the backdrop. PS Brown-eared bulbuls have some unique interesting behaviours. Info link in bio! https://elisooker.wordpress.com/2020/06/15/backyard-birdies-2-2-04-20-7-4-20-brown-eared-bulbul-the-gypsy-bird/ #brownearedbulbul #birdsofjapan #birdphotography #wildlifejapan #wildlifephotography #birdingjapan #springjapan #cherryblossomjapan #japan #japanphotography #traveljapan #birdwatching #birdidentification #naturetourism #naturejapan #wildlifefacts #animalfacts #nagano #conservation #ヒヨドリ　#野鳥　#鳥 #野生動物　#自然　#自然保護

A post shared by Eli Sooker (@elisooker) on Jun 15, 2020 at 5:21am PDT

_{Note: First pic of the post in at Shinrakuji Temple in Miyota, the other two at my apartment backyard again.}

There was so much more I could write in the Insta post description…but don’t want to overwhelm the photo so I’ll write/link it here instead.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2014/03/08/environment/noisy-bulbuls-change-with-the-seasons/

The above post describes how brown-eared bulbul, usually living in small groups of 3-5, can congregrate and “migrate” in huge flocks to different areas. However they don’t all migrate at once and to the same place…so to us, it seems as if they are always around. However, if you notice bulbuls which left and suddenly came back. odds are they’re different individuals!

That explains why the group that I so often spotted outside my window suddenly disappeared for about a month, and now I am seeing bulbuls again! They must be a different group–perhaps the old lot hopskipped north to Hokkaido according to warmth or fruit (see link articled for details) and this lot came up from Tokyo or further south. Fascinating!

Rather than a proper migration, these birds really seem to just cruise around according to what fits their present conditions. If I was a bird, I wouldn’t mind a gypsy-like lifestyle like the brown-eared bulbul.

Even more facts:

Click to access hiyo.pdf