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Names and links
- Scientific: Treron
Sieboldii
- English: Japanese Green Pigeon, White-bellied
Green-Pigeon, Japanese white-bellied green pigeon, Siebold's green
pigeon, White-bellied wedge-tailed green pigeon
- French: Colombar de Siebold
- Spanish:Vinago japones
- German:Sieboldgrüntaube
- Japanese: Aobato ( pronounced like 'Ah-oh-ba-toe',
meanings 'blue/green pigeon')
- Vietnamese: cu xanh bung trang
- Chanese:
 (????)
- Links: WIKIOEDIA,
Global
Register of Migratory Species(GROMS), Species name
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Where Can I See a Japanese Green Pigeon?
One of the best places to see the Japanese Green Pigeon is at Terugasaki
beach, Oiso town, in central Japan. If you have never seen this beautiful
bird, you should find a way to visit Oiso, Japan once in your lifetime.
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How Can I Get to Terugasaki Beach?
<MAP>
Take the JR Tokaido Line from Tokyo Station and get off at Oiso Station.
Just head for the beach straight from the station; it's a ten-minute
walk. If you come by car, take Route 134 from Hiratsuka toward Odawara,
cross the Hanamizu River bridge, and keep going on the road to the left
instead of getting onto the Seisho bypass on the right. I's a one-kilometer
drive from the split.
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Ok, Now I'm in Terugasaki, Where Do I See Japanese Green Pigeons?
You will probably find the information board of the Japanese Green
Pigeon on the pier by the swimming pool of Oiso Port, where you can
view the entire Terugasaki beach. This is the easiest place to see them.
The Japanese Green Pigeons fly over the rocks along the seashore. The
pigeons also come and perch on the trees in Oiso hills behind you.
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TERUGASAKI beach (photo. KANEKO)
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What Is the Best Season to See Japanese Green Pigeons?
The best season to see them is late summer from mid-May through late
September. During this time, as many as 3,000 green pigeons will visit
the rocks during the day. Observers once saw 440 pigeons completely
cover the rocks in an umbrella of magnificent green.
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What Time of Day Is Best?
The peak time is usually between seven and nine in the morning. This
is also the time when the pigeons show off their best colors. However,
if it rains in the morning, the pigeons sometimes arrive late, peaking
around 10 a.m. Another good chance to see them is when they occasionally
flock to the rocks in the afternoon, primarily from July to early September.
Regardless, you can be sure to see a number of them anytime from dawn
to sunset starting mid-May through late September, unless it is pouring
rain or unusually windy.
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How Can I Identify Japanese Green Pigeons?
First of all, Japanese Green Pigeons are beautiful birds. Their exquisite
yellow-green plumage is sure to impress you. They flock toward the rocks
by the seashore and drink from the sea. After having a drink of seawater,
they come back to perch on the nearby trees, sometimes alighting just
beyond you as you stand on the pier. If you have good eyesight, you
may be able to notice the purple on the shoulders of the males.
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How Can I Distinguish Aobato from Other Pigeons?
You have probably seen pigeons around Japan's temples, shrines,
parks and train stations, poring over the ground in search for food;
these are Dobato pigeons. You may also have seen the Eastern Turtle
Dove, which can be seen in towns and residential areas as well as forest
and fields. These doves are light purple-brown with scaly distinctive
patterns on the wings. You're not likely to mistake either species for
the Japanese Green Pigeon.
Three common pegions/doves in Japan
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figure
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(male)
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English name
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Japanese Green Pegion
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Eastern Turtle Dove
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Feral Pegion
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Scientific name
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Treron Sieboldii
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Streptopelia
Orientalis
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Columbia livia
var. domestica
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Jananese name
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AOBATO
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KIJIBATO
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DOBATO
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Is It True That Japanese Green Pigeons Drink Seawater?
Yes, but no one knows why for sure. But it is only at this time of
the year that the pigeons come to drink seawater, so it is presumably
related to some deficiency in their diet, perhaps minerals they can
only get from the seawater. Among the world's 300 plus species of pigeon,
only the Japanese Green Pigeon is known to drink seawater. However,
recent studies seem to indicate that the Black Wood Pigeon (Columba
janthina) and Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) share this remarkable
behavior.
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Where Do Japanese Green Pigeons Live?
We traced the pigeons and discovered that they live and breed in the
beech forests of the Tanzawa mountains, 20-30 kilometers from Terugasaki,
and come all the way to the ocean for the seawater. They can also be
spotted along the mountain paths of Mt. Koma and the Shonandaira Heights,
close to Terugasaki.
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What About Their Songs?
The pigeons sing mysteriously, or ominously as some describe. They
sound something like "oh-ah-wooh". The sound is not unlike that of a
Japanese ambulance or perhaps the Shakuhachi bamboo flute. If you hear
them deep in the mountains in the enveloping mist, the sound is quite
mystical.
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Isn't It Dangerous for Japanese Green Pigeons to Be Floating on The
Sea?
The pigeons risk their lives to drink seawater. On days when the rolling
waves are at their highest, some of the pigeons who come down to drink
are battered and killed by the crashing waves. Typhoons traveling off
the coast of Terugasaki bring beautiful weather and tragedy for some
of these beautiful birds.
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Japanese Green Pigeon's Favorite Beach is Designated a Natural Monument
Our research unveiled that Terugasaki is Japan's most popular place
for Japanese Green Pigeons coming to drink seawater. In 1996, Kanagawa
Prefecture designated the shores of Terugasaki a natural monument to
preserve the unique spot chosen by the Japanese Green Pigeon.
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