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Japan Japan Ramsar wetland

Sarobetsu Plain

72 bird species recorded; the most from June to July.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec54at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0

This month here

11 species in January.

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.

White-tailed Eagle
White-tailed EagleHaliaeetus albicillaWinter visitorFerdinando sacchetti · CC BY-SA 4.0
Large-billed Crow
Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchosResidentTisha Mukherjee · CC BY-SA 4.0
Slaty-backed Gull
Slaty-backed GullLarus schistisagusWinter visitorOriginal: ほくなん . This edit: MPF · Public domain
White-cheeked Starling
White-cheeked StarlingSpodiopsar cineraceusWinter visitorUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Japanese Buzzard
Japanese BuzzardButeo japonicusWinter visitorPhilipp Franz von Siebold · Public domain
Harlequin Duck
Harlequin DuckHistrionicus histrionicusWinter visitorPeter Massas · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

72 species, counted.

46out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 72Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 33Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 1,041Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 7Raptors
  • 2Waders
  • 5Gulls & seabirds
  • 11Ducks & geese
  • 4Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 34Songbirds
  • 9Other 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 72 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Black KiteMilvus migrans
  • White-tailed EagleHaliaeetus albicilla
  • Steller's Sea-eagleHaliaeetus pelagicusVU
  • Japanese BuzzardButeo japonicus
  • OspreyPandion haliaetus
  • Rough-legged BuzzardButeo lagopus
  • Eurasian SparrowhawkAccipiter nisus
Waders2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Japanese SnipeGallinago hardwickiiNT
  • Kentish PloverCharadrius alexandrinus
Gulls & seabirds5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Slaty-backed GullLarus schistisagus
  • Black-tailed GullLarus crassirostris
  • Rhinoceros AukletCerorhinca monocerata
  • Glaucous-winged GullLarus glaucescens
  • Common TernSterna hirundo
Ducks & geese11 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • MallardAnas platyrhynchos
  • Greater White-fronted GooseAnser albifrons
  • Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
  • Stejneger's ScoterMelanitta stejnegeri
  • Taiga Bean GooseAnser fabalis
  • Harlequin DuckHistrionicus histrionicus
  • Mandarin DuckAix galericulata
  • Chinese Spot-billed DuckAnas zonorhyncha
  • American ScoterMelanitta americanaNT
  • Tundra Bean GooseAnser serrirostris
  • GoosanderMergus merganser
Herons, ibises & grebes4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Grey HeronArdea cinerea
  • Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
  • Japanese CormorantPhalacrocorax capillatus
  • Red-necked GrebePodiceps grisegena
Songbirds34 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Stejneger's StonechatSaxicola stejnegeri
  • Chestnut-eared BuntingEmberiza fucata
  • Japanese Bush WarblerHorornis diphone
  • Carrion CrowCorvus corone
  • Masked buntingEmberiza personata
  • Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchos
  • Black-browed Reed WarblerAcrocephalus bistrigiceps
  • SkylarkAlauda arvensis
  • Eastern Yellow WagtailMotacilla tschutschensis
  • Sakhalin Grasshopper WarblerLocustella amnicola
  • White WagtailMotacilla alba
  • Grey-capped GreenfinchChloris sinica
  • Siberian RubythroatLuscinia calliope
  • Lanceolated WarblerLocustella lanceolata
  • Common Reed BuntingEmberiza schoeniclus
  • Marsh TitPoecile palustris
  • Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
  • Cinereous TitParus cinereus
  • Narcissus FlycatcherFicedula narcissina
  • Coal TitPeriparus ater
  • Long-tailed RosefinchCarpodacus sibiricus
  • Olive-backed PipitAnthus hodgsoni
  • Middendorff's Grasshopper-warblerLocustella ochotensis
  • White-cheeked StarlingSpodiopsar cineraceus
  • Brown-headed ThrushTurdus chrysolaus
  • Chestnut-cheeked StarlingAgropsar philippensis
  • Bull-headed ShrikeLanius bucephalus
  • Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotis
  • Passer cinnamomeusPasser cinnamomeus
  • Eurasian NuthatchSitta europaea
  • Willow TitPoecile montanus
  • Meadow BuntingEmberiza cioides
  • Sakhalin Leaf-warblerPhylloscopus borealoides
  • Muscicapa latirostrisMuscicapa latirostris
Other birds9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Oriental Turtle DoveStreptopelia orientalis
  • Common CuckooCuculus canorus
  • Oriental CuckooCuculus optatus
  • Japanese Pygmy WoodpeckerYungipicus kizuki
  • White-bellied Green-PigeonTreron sieboldii
  • Pacific SwiftApus pacificus
  • Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major
  • Eastern Water RailRallus indicus
  • WryneckJynx torquilla

Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.

When to go

The most species from June to July.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan11-4°/-7°83 mm
  2. Feb0-3°/-8°71 mm
  3. Mar01°/-4°64 mm
  4. Apr167°/1°55 mm
  5. May1213°/6°74 mm
  6. Jun5317°/11°82 mm
  7. Jul5421°/15°114 mm
  8. Aug2623°/17°141 mm
  9. Sep1920°/14°126 mm
  10. Oct613°/8°120 mm
  11. Nov06°/1°119 mm
  12. Dec9-1°/-5°114 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Sarobetsu Plain.

Coastal plain in Northwestern Hokkaido

Sarobetsu Plain is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Japan.

72 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 1,041 open records.

The most recorded are the Stejneger's Stonechat, the Chestnut-eared Bunting and the Japanese Bush Warbler.

26 species come for the summer, 6 for the winter and 1 only pass through.

1 are threatened worldwide, including Steller's Sea-eagle.

The most species are recorded from June to July.

Lake Panke-numa, and Mt.Rishiri
Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and watch

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.

Sarobetsu Plain seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 1visitor centres within 6 km豊富町観光情報センター
  • 3viewpoints within 5 km
  • 6places to stay within 10 kmあしたの城, 豊富町セミナーハウス, ヤドカリハウス and 3 more
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • observation towers within 6 km
  • marked trails within 4 km
  • car parks within 3 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • campsites within 10 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 Sarobetsu Plain.

The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas3 mountains within 25 km
Mount Maru · 5.6 kmMount Ubushi · 18 kmMount Sekiyu-kōzan · 19 km
Lakeyas2 lakes within 15 km
Penke Numa1.4 km² · 0.4 kmPanke-numa3.5 km² · 4.0 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The place, as people saw it.

Hokkaido, Sarobetsu Plain
欅 (Keyaki) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sarobetsu 20201007135848 (50869408582)
inunami · CC BY 2.0
Sarobetsu 20201007140611 (50869408352)
inunami · CC BY 2.0

Other places nearby.

Sarobetsu Plain

Japan

  • 46Birdyas Score
  • 72Species
  • 33Migrants
  • 1Threatened

Lake Kutcharo

Japan · 50 km

  • 39Birdyas Score
  • 47Species
  • 15Migrants
  • 1Threatened

See the guide

Lake Tōfutsu

Japan · 248 km

  • 86Birdyas Score
  • 205Species
  • 148Migrants
  • 12Threatened

See the guide

Notsuke Peninsula

Japan · 329 km

  • 83Birdyas Score
  • 160Species
  • 95Migrants
  • 10Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q3390983) · CC0
Birds1,041 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
See these recordsgbif.org
SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas

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.