Japan Ramsar wetland
Odashirogahara
133 bird species recorded; the most in May.
くろふね · CC BY 3.0
This month here
70 species in January.54 species in February.50 species in March.85 species in April.97 species in May.82 species in June.71 species in July.71 species in August.64 species in September.86 species in October.82 species in November.60 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
VU
VU
VU
VU
VU
VU
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
133 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 133Speciesrecorded more than once
- 84Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 2ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 11,847Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 1,414 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 8Raptors
- 2Waders
- 19Ducks & geese
- 7Herons, ibises & grebes
- 79Songbirds
- 18Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 133 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Japanese BuzzardButeo japonicus
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Steller's Sea-eagleHaliaeetus pelagicusVU
- Eurasian SparrowhawkAccipiter nisus
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
- Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus
- Grey-faced BuzzardButastur indicus
Waders2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Japanese SnipeGallinago hardwickiiNT
- Solitary SnipeGallinago solitaria
Ducks & geese19 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Mandarin DuckAix galericulata
- Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
- Chinese Spot-billed DuckAnas zonorhyncha
- Common PochardAythya ferinaVU
- Eurasian WigeonMareca penelope
- Eurasian TealAnas crecca
- GoosanderMergus merganser
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
- GadwallMareca strepera
- Northern PintailAnas acuta
- SmewMergellus albellus
- Greater ScaupAythya marila
- Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Bewick's SwanCygnus columbianus
- Mute SwanCygnus olor
- Anas poecilorhynchaAnas poecilorhyncha
- Falcated DuckMareca falcata
Herons, ibises & grebes7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Eared GrebePodiceps nigricollis
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
- Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatus
- Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
Songbirds79 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Cinereous TitParus cinereus
- Coal TitPeriparus ater
- Willow TitPoecile montanus
- Japanese Bush WarblerHorornis diphone
- Eurasian NuthatchSitta europaea
- Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchos
- Eurasian JayGarrulus glandarius
- Masked buntingEmberiza personata
- Narcissus FlycatcherFicedula narcissina
- Stejneger's StonechatSaxicola stejnegeri
- Eurasian WrenTroglodytes troglodytes
- Brown DipperCinclus pallasii
- Passer cinnamomeusPasser cinnamomeus
- Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
- Bull-headed ShrikeLanius bucephalus
- Muscicapa latirostrisMuscicapa latirostris
- White WagtailMotacilla alba
- Brown-headed ThrushTurdus chrysolaus
- Eurasian TreecreeperCerthia familiaris
- Olive-backed PipitAnthus hodgsoni
- Chestnut-eared BuntingEmberiza fucata
- Turdus eunomusTurdus eunomus
- Asian House MartinDelichon dasypus
- Eastern Crowned Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus coronatus
- Poecile variusPoecile varius
- Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotis
- Carrion CrowCorvus corone
- BramblingFringilla montifringilla
- Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
- Japanese WagtailMotacilla grandis
- Sakhalin Leaf-warblerPhylloscopus borealoides
- Meadow BuntingEmberiza cioides
- BullfinchPyrrhula pyrrhula
- Japanese GrosbeakEophona personata
- White-cheeked StarlingSpodiopsar cineraceus
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Blue-and-white FlycatcherCyanoptila cyanomelana
- Eurasian SiskinSpinus spinus
- Grey-capped GreenfinchChloris sinica
- Red-flanked BluetailTarsiger cyanurus
- GoldcrestRegulus regulus
- Zosterops japonicusZosterops japonicus
- Japanese Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus xanthodryas
- Japanese RobinErithacus akahige
- Rustic BuntingEmberiza rusticaNT
- HawfinchCoccothraustes coccothraustes
- Long-tailed RosefinchCarpodacus sibiricus
- Janpanese ThrushTurdus cardis
- Dark-sided FlycatcherMuscicapa sibirica
- Eyebrowed thrushTurdus obscurus
- Bohemian WaxwingBombycilla garrulus
- HwameiGarrulax canorus
- Daurian RedstartPhoenicurus auroreus
- Siberian Blue RobinLuscinia cyane
- Siberian RubythroatLuscinia calliope
- Japanese WaxwingBombycilla japonicaNT
- Asian StubtailUrosphena squameiceps
- Ashy MinivetPericrocotus divaricatus
- Northern NutcrackerNucifraga caryocatactes
- Grey-streaked FlycatcherMuscicapa griseisticta
- Pale ThrushTurdus pallidus
- Grey BuntingEmberiza variabilis
- Alpine AccentorPrunella collaris
- Turdus naumanniTurdus naumanni
- Common RedpollAcanthis flammea
- Oriental Reed WarblerAcrocephalus orientalis
- Azure-winged MagpieCyanopica cyanus
- Pallas's RosefinchCarpodacus roseus
- Japanese AccentorPrunella rubida
- Siberian ThrushGeokichla sibirica
- Chestnut-cheeked StarlingAgropsar philippensis
- White's ThrushZoothera aurea
- Mugimaki FlycatcherFicedula mugimaki
- Red-billed LeiothrixLeiothrix lutea
- SkylarkAlauda arvensis
- Yellow-throated BuntingEmberiza elegans
- Black-faced buntingEmberiza spodocephala
- Yellow BuntingEmberiza sulphurata
- Common crossbillLoxia curvirostra
Other birds18 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major
- Japanese Pygmy WoodpeckerYungipicus kizuki
- Oriental Turtle DoveStreptopelia orientalis
- Common CuckooCuculus canorus
- Japanese Green WoodpeckerPicus awokera
- Lesser CuckooCuculus poliocephalus
- CootFulica atra
- White-backed WoodpeckerDendrocopos leucotos
- Oriental CuckooCuculus optatus
- Pacific SwiftApus pacificus
- Cuculus hyperythrusCuculus hyperythrus
- Common KingfisherAlcedo atthis
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- White-bellied Green-PigeonTreron sieboldii
- Grey NightjarCaprimulgus jotaka
- Green PheasantPhasianus versicolor
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- Copper PheasantSyrmaticus soemmerringii
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in May.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan-2°/-8°93 mm
- Feb-1°/-8°61 mm
- Mar4°/-5°88 mm
- Apr11°/0°103 mm
- May17°/6°111 mm
- Jun21°/12°147 mm
- Jul25°/16°220 mm
- Aug26°/17°179 mm
- Sep21°/13°187 mm
- Oct15°/6°170 mm
- Nov8°/1°100 mm
- Dec2°/-4°105 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Odashirogahara.
Odashirogahara is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Japan, 1,414 m above the sea.
133 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 11,847 open records.
The most recorded are the Cinereous Tit, the Mallard and the Coal Tit.
44 species come for the summer, 38 for the winter and 2 only pass through.
2 are threatened worldwide, including Common Pochard and Steller's Sea-eagle.
The most species are recorded in May.
Get there and watch
- 菖蒲ヶ浜キャンプ場campsite · 3.3 km · 5 within 10 km
- Toyoko Inn Matsumotoplace to stay · 3.5 km · 49 within 10 km
- Katashinanearest town · 16 km in a straight line
- Fukushima Airport (FKS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 103 km in a straight lineCar hire at KIJ airport (Niigata)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 1marked trails within 4 kmMt. Shirane - Sugamuna Campground Trail
- 2visitor centres within 6 km日光湯元ビジターセンター, 奥日光湯元温泉旅館協同組合旅館案内所
- 20viewpoints within 5 km竜頭ノ滝, 湯滝, 湯ノ湖・湯滝展望台 and 17 more
- 17car parks within 3 km
- 8restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 5campsites within 10 km菖蒲ヶ浜キャンプ場, 湯元キャンプ場, 菅沼キャンプ村 and 2 more
- 49places to stay within 10 kmToyoko Inn Matsumoto, 奥日光高原ホテル, 樹林 and 46 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Odashirogahara.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas42 mountains within 25 kmMitsudake · 4.6 kmMount Nikkō-Shirane2,578 m · volcano · 5.2 kmMount Nantai2,484 m · volcano · 6.1 kmMount Tarō2,368 m · volcano · 7.3 kmMount Nyohō2,483 m · volcano · 11 kmMount Sukai2,144 m · volcano · 12 kmMount Kōshin1,892 m · volcano · 12 kmMount Hiuchigatake2,356 m · volcano · 24 km
Darkskyas3 dark-sky places within 30 kmLake ChūzenjiBortle 3 · 4.9 kmMount Nikkō-ShiraneBortle 3 · 5.3 kmMount NantaiBortle 3 · 6.4 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Other places nearby.
Odashirogahara
Japan
- 63Birdyas Score
- 133Species
- 84Migrants
- 2Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q7077279) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 11,847 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas, Cascadyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit