A bird census in the Imperial Palace for 1974

Abstract

This is the 10th annual report of monthly (except July, August, January) census in the Imperial Palace area in Tokyo from April 1974 to March 1975. The same route of 4.1km was censused from about 9.40 to 11.30 a.m, as in previous years. Two basic tables of the same order of bird species were used, as usual, only to add at the end additional species newly recorded for the year. One table tabulates the bird records for wooded area with small ponds, the other for an area with big moats used as duck resort in winter and heronry in summer.The numbers of species and individuals recorded per one census day ranged 16-33 (av. 26.2) species and 236-950 (av. 610.1) birds, which were slightly higher than in the previous year, mainly because of greater numbers of herons (E. garzetta and N. nycticorax) in this year, but otherwise bird numbers and species were stable. The total number of species recorded for 1974 was 48 which was 52.7% of the species so far recorded (91 species).In this year (1974) only two species (Accipiter nisus and Dendrocopos kizuki) were added to the bird list of the Imperial Palace area. It is to be noted that Alcedo atthis, which disappeared since 1963 and reoccurred in 1973, was registered also this year. As in previous reports some observational records on the flock size, family group and nest-box utilization, etc. of the great tit and green pheasant were tabulated for annual comparison. Only one eastern turtle dove was the example of dead bird during the census period.