oriental white stork Archives : Jenny Wren Rambles

Eco-tours: Visiting the Oriental Stork in Hyogo Japan

Over spring break I took a few days off to visit some Hyogo attractions: Kinosaki Onsen (hot springs) and the Oriental White Stork Park. The hot springs were to relax, but the stork park was to learn about a local conservation success.

The Oriental White Stork

In case you missed my last post covering the storks’ biology and conservation history, here is a quick overview. The Oriental White stork is a large white bird with black feather tips that lives in wetlands and eats a variety of smaller animals like fish, frogs, and small mammals. It went locally extinct in Japan in 1971, but through captive breeding, habitat restoration, and reintroduction programs it has made a comeback with approximately 90 birds living wild in Japan again.

My first stork sighting

Hopping on the Kounotori Limited Express to Kinosaki Onsen, I sat back and enjoyed watching the countryside fly past the window for the 3-hour journey from Osaka. In Japan, you never know what you might see through the train windows. Rice paddies, small villages, cherry blossoms.

A view from the train window, passing a small park with cherry blossoms

In my case, I saw something very large and white fly past as the train ran alongside a river. Too large for an egret I thought. Could it be a stork? Unfortunately, it was going in the opposite direction of the train so I only had a quick glimpse, but I think it might’ve been my very first Oriental stork sighting. Thanks to breeding and reintroduction efforts, wild Oriental storks are living in Japan again and if you’re in the Toyooka area you might spot one of them along the rivers where they can hunt for food. I can’t say for sure that I spotted one, but I think the chances are good. In any case, don’t forget to look out the windows occasionally because you never know what you might be missing.

Kinosaki Onsen Station

If you’re not familiar with Japanese, you might not have noticed what is special about the express train’s name. Kounotori is the Japanese name for the Oriental stork and the limited express train that runs to Toyooka and Kinosaki Onsen is named after it. Arriving in Kinosaki, you will also see artwork and souvenirs depicting the storks, from postcards to daruma dolls and station artwork. You can tell that the people here are very proud of the storks and that they’re a part of the local culture. I enjoyed wondering when I would see something stork-related pop up while I was walking around the town. The stork daruma dolls were tempting but my goal was to take some pictures of the storks so I managed to resist.

Hachigoro Toshima Wetlands

After taking a day to relax at the hot springs and another to do some sightseeing in nearby Izushi, I planned my last day to focus on the storks. The first stop on my stork itinerary was the Hachigoro wetlands.

Hachigoro wetlands, photo credit Visit Kinosaki website

The wetlands are named after one of the first wild oriental storks to migrate back to the Toyooka area. They are a short walk or bike ride from Kinosaki onsen so they are very easy to visit. I rented a bike from one of the visitor information facilities first thing in the morning, then headed down the road along the train tracks and took a left onto the blue bridge. Stopping on the bridge to take a few photos, I paused to enjoy the cool and quiet of the river and watch the swallows flit around me before continuing on my way.

Crossing the bridge to get to Hachigoro Toshima wetlands

On the other side of the bridge was a surprise. An oriental stork nest, just past the bridge and on top of a utility pole. The male and female were both standing on top of the nest, but after a moment one flew off towards the river. Its partner remained at the nest, rearranging sticks. I couldn’t believe I was already getting an up-close view of wild storks! I grabbed my camera and took a few shots before continuing to the wetland area, just a short distance up the road.

Stork nest on the other side of the bridge

Hachigoro wetlands is a wetland habitat for waterfowl that was converted from rice fields and sits in a floodplain near the Maruyama river. It has one artificial nesting platform near the edge of the woods that is in use by a pair of oriental storks. Visitors can only access one side of the wetland so that they don’t disturb the birds. As you approach, you will see there is an observation shelter you can go inside with open windows looking out over the water. There are a couple of benches as well as information panels showcasing some of the species you may see. I sat on one of the benches and spent some time quietly watching and trying to take some pictures. It was a bright and sunny day and although there didn’t seem to be many birds out, I was able to see some egrets and ducks as well as the nesting pair of storks in the distance.

The artificial nest platform is set back farther away from the shelter so if you want a good view you should plan on bringing either a very large zoom lens, binoculars, or a viewing telescope. I’m still very much an amateur when it comes to birding so I don’t have my own binoculars and rely on my camera’s zoom to get a closer look. That being said, you can still enjoy watching the birds without binoculars and you don’t need a telescope to enjoy listening to the storks’ beak clattering.

Map of the wetlands showing the stork nest and observation shelter.

Cafe Lamp Eye

After quietly watching for a bit I made my way over to Cafe Lamp Eye for some breakfast. This cute cafe is just past the wetlands, a minute or so walk through the parking lot, and across the street. The interior reminded me of a cozy grandparent’s house with comfy floral couches and an assortment of armchairs and tables to choose from. The morning air was still a little chilly so they had a portable heater set up in the room, adding to the cozy atmosphere.

I took a seat in one of the armchairs set up in front of a table with a view of the cherry blossom trees in the back garden. Sinking into the chair, I felt an urge to stay there all day with a bit of crochet or a book to read. I ordered some fruit waffles for breakfast (absolutely delicious) and took my time to enjoy the food and atmosphere before finally pulling myself up out of the armchair to pay and head to my next destination.

Hyogo Oriental Stork Park

My second stork stop was the Hyogo Park of the Oriental Stork in Toyooka. After returning my bike I went back to my hostel to pick up my bag and catch a bus to Toyooka station. It’s a bit of a bus ride to Toyooka, and another to the stork park, so I would recommend eating before you go as I later found out the food options there are very limited. On the bright side, there is a direct bus to the park from Toyooka station so you won’t get lost and you can also buy food or small lunchboxes from the station convenience store before you go. Once there however there is only one cafe that serves pizza, some coffee, and drinks, and the food orders end around 3:00.

After catching the bus, I arrived at the park around 2:00 and headed straight in, not realizing I was setting myself up for a very hungry afternoon. Entry to the park is a small 100 yen donation which comes with an oriental stork origami gift, and they do have English instructions and an English park pamphlet you can ask for. The museum itself also has a good amount of English information on the displays; most of the information about the storks and their conservation seemed to have English translations with only some of the specimen displays or smaller displays being Japanese only.

Stork origami, bird specimens, and oriental stork information in English

In the entrance area, there were some bird specimens of egrets, herons, and storks and in one of the education rooms, they had a side-by-side specimen display of the Oriental and White storks so you can see their differences.

Left: White stork, orange beak, black skin around dark eyes Right: Oriental stork, black beak, red skin around white eye

Observation Cages

Out through the back is the captive stork observation cages, biotope, and nature trail. The cages have terraced pools for the storks to wade in but most were hanging out inside their eating area. When I came back later a few came out and were wading in the water closer to the fence so I could get some better pictures. At the biotope past the cages, I could see insects flying around and listen to the many frogs croaking. There’s also a nature trail you can take into the forest a bit but I passed on it this time around as I was on a bit of a time crunch.

A short walk up the road from the museum is another biotope and an observation area for the breeding cages. You can really only see into one of the cages and you can’t get very close to it, but up on the hill is another observation point with binoculars and a display showing videos and information about the breeding cages.

Final Thoughts

The Hyogo Park of the Oriental Stork is a great way to learn about the storks and a nice area to walk around and take in some of the natural landscape. Depending on your timing, you might be able to see some more of the wild storks hanging out in the terraced pools and nearby fields. Hachigoro Toshima wetlands are also a nice area for some relaxed birding and a chance to see some wild storks. Both are affordable attractions to visit at the low low prices of free (Hachigoro wetland) and 100 yen ( ~$1, Oriental Stork Park) and are easy to visit from the Kinosaki Onsen area for a conservation or wildlife-focused day trip. I definitely enjoyed my time visiting and would love to bring my family for a visit someday.

If you want to see some of my pictures from my trip, or an abridged storyline of it, check out my Instagram and the Oriental Stork highlight on my profile.

For more about visiting the storks and the Kinosaki or Toyooka area, check out the Visit Kinosaki website.

Conservation Tales: The Oriental White Stork in Japan

If asked to name an iconic bird of Japan, most people would probably go for the red-crowned crane. Though rare, it is captured in many works of art, folk tales, and even company logos. Known for its elegant dancing during mating season, it is often featured in nature films and photography about Japan.

If you’ve paid attention to the title of this post though, you have probably realized this is not the bird I will be talking about. I’ll save that for a different day. Today I’d like to tell the story of another large rare Japanese bird: the Oriental white stork.

Description

The oriental white stork shares the red-crowned crane’s color scheme, with a mostly white body and black wing feathers. Although it is smaller than the more famous crane, it is still a sizeable bird at 43-59 in (110-150 cm) tall, roughly 6.2-13 lb (2.8-5.9 kg), and with a 7.3 ft (2.2 m) wingspan. Similar in appearance to the European white stork, it can be told apart by its black beak, red skin around the eyes, and white irises.

Historic and Current Range

Oriental stork distribution map By © Sémhur / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19083437

The oriental stork was historically found across Asia, from the Siberian region of Russia and Northeast China to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and further south with some birds wintering in parts of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Phillippines.

It became locally extinct in the Korean Peninsula and Japan in 1971. As a result of conservation efforts, the oriental stork has returned to Korea and Japan and most of the population appears to be found in China, with smaller population clusters in Russia, Korea, Japan. They are less commonly seen in other parts of Asia such as India and the Philippines.

Diet and Behavior

Storks are carnivores and eat a range of insects, small invertebrates, fish, amphibians, small reptiles, and small mammals. In Japan, they are a top predator in their wetland ecosystem, and their presence an indicator of a healthy habitat. The Oriental white storks mainly hunt by wading in wetland or river edge areas as well as rice paddies.

They are migratory birds that travel to breed or winter in other areas and are usually solitary except during breeding season. They nest in tall trees or man-made structures such as electricity poles or nesting platforms. They do not have much in the way of vocalization and mainly communicate by loudly clattering their beaks.

Road to Decline

While the oriental stork was once widespread in Asia, the species has declined and is considered endangered. The main threats and reasons for its decline are hunting, habitat loss, and other effects of human development and industrialization such as prey loss and environmental pollution.

In Japan, the storks were initially able to live alongside humans and hunt for prey in the flooded rice fields. But as agriculture became more industrialized, it soon led to problems for the storks and other smaller species that lived or hunted there. With industrialization, traditional farming practices were changed for higher rice production. Heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers not only reduced the storks’ natural prey but also led to the buildup of mercury and other chemicals in their bodies, a process known as biomagnification, which left them sick and unable to breed.

Traditional practices where fields were connected to natural waterways and left flooded for longer periods in the year were altered; concrete irrigation and drainage isolated from the fields prevented natural movement of aquatic species like fish, and fields left flooded for a shorter period meant that tadpoles didn’t have time to develop into frogs, further reducing the prey population. These factors coupled with the loss of natural nesting sites from logging of the pine forests led to the decline of the species in Japan.

The last wild birds were seen in 1971 in Toyooka, and after their deaths, the stork was declared extinct in Japan.

Conservation Timeline

Capture and Breeding

With the wild stork population at risk of local extinction, the oriental white stork was designated a special natural monument, and protection groups were established to help conserve the species from 1956. At this time, there were only 20 wild birds left in Japan. As the number of wild storks continued to decline, plans were made to set up a captive breeding facility.

By 1963 their numbers had dwindled to just 11 birds and an attempt was made to remove eggs from the wild to incubate in captivity. Unfortunately, their efforts were unsuccessful. The next step was to capture some of the few remaining wild birds for captive breeding. From 1963 to February 1971, three wild adult birds were caught and taken into the breeding center. In May of 1971, the last wild stork was captured in Toyooka but subsequently died resulting in the local extinction of the stork in Japan.

In 1985, Russia sent 6 young storks to Japan to help bolster the captive breeding population. Finally, in 1989, the captive Russian storks successfully bred and raised a chick. From this point on, the captive storks have successfully raised chicks every year.

Reintroductions

As the captive population grew, plans for re-introduction to the wild were formed and additional facilities, such as the Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork were developed. From 1999 on, the breeding population was added to with birds from zoos within Japan as well as wild birds from Russia. By 2002, the captive population had risen to over 100, and the first captive-bred birds were released in 2005. Two years later, in 2007, the first chick from reintroduced storks fledged in the wild.

Since then, captive breeding and re-introductions in Japan have continued along with efforts to restore and protect the storks’ habitat. And in 2014, the Graduate School of Regional Resource Management was established on the grounds of the Hyogo Park of the Oriental Stork to support the sustainable management of natural resources.

Conservation Initiatives

Stork friendly rice-growing methods

Stork-friendly rice cultivation. From Visit Kinosaki: Stork Natural Rice webpage

For the storks to thrive again, it was crucial to restore their habitat. Stork-friendly farming methods were established and supported by government subsidies to encourage rice farmers to change their methods. This includes a 75-100% reduction of pesticide and fertilizer use and a return to leaving rice paddies flooded for a longer period. Reduction of pesticides allows natural prey to survive for the storks to feed on and prevents bio-accumulation of chemicals which could hinder storks’ ability to breed again. Leaving the fields flooded also provides additional habitat for waterfowl and prey such as frogs and insects.

Wetland Restoration

While storks can find prey in rice paddies and co-exist with organic farming methods, they need more habitat than that to thrive. In addition to the stork-friendly rice-growing methods, the city of Toyooka has established several habitats for wetland preservation. These include the Hachigoro Toshima wetland, Kaya wetland, Maruyama river, Tai wetland, rice paddy biotope, and lower Maruyama river.

Hachigoro wetlands. Image from Visit Kinosaki website

Some of these are wetlands or biotopes converted from unused rice paddy fields. These expand the habitat and feeding areas for the storks as well as function as natural corridors connecting wetland areas. Along the rivers, wetland areas and shallows are created to expand habitat and foraging areas for the storks. These habitats benefit not only the storks, but the species they feed on, such as insects, fish, and amphibians, and other waterfowl.

Current Status

While the stork has rebounded thanks to captive breeding and habitat restoration efforts, the population in Japan is still small. There are approximately 95 storks in captivity and 90 in the wild. The main location of breeding and conservation efforts is the Toyooka area in Hyogo Prefecture. As the captive population grew, reintroductions have expanded to other prefectures such as Chiba and Fukui. Worldwide, the population is estimated to be between 1,000-2,500 mature individuals.

Where to see them:

In addition to habitat restoration and stork-friendly farming methods, Toyooka city has also become an ecotourism spot to see the storks. From local schoolchildren to international tourists, university students, and researchers, visitors to the park and other nearby attractions have increased over the years with over 1,000 package tours sold since 2006. But if package tours aren’t your thing, no worries. It is very easy to see them on your own. And the best part is, you can pair it with a visit to the famous hot springs of Kinosaki.

Kinosaki Onsen: Hachigoro wetlands

The Hachigoro wetlands are located just outside of Kinosaki Onsen. They are free to visit and easily reached on foot or by bike from the town. Just a short ride/walk down the road and across the bridge and you will find them in no time flat. Only one side is open to the public to prevent disturbing the birds, but there is a viewing hut with some identification information and a view of the nesting platform.

Toyooka: Hyogo Park of the Oriental Stork

Captive stork viewing cage at Hyogo Park of the Oriental Stork

The Hyogo Park of the Oriental Stork can be reached with a direct bus from Toyooka station and requires only a small donation of 100 yen to enter. In the museum, you can learn more about the storks’ biology, conservation efforts, and local history. There are also many specimens of other local birds and wildlife, an education room, and videos of the storks on their nest. Outside, you can view some of the captive storks, visit a biotope, and even hike a nature trail. At the end of your visit, you can buy stork-friendly rice or other goods at the nearby souvenir stands.

Conclusion

Although the Oriental stork was once extinct in Japan, it has been brought back through the hard work and perseverance of local communities and governments as well as international cooperation with other countries that the stork calls home. The numbers are still small, but hopefully, the population will continue to grow as the Oriental stork is re-established in its historic range.

Tag: oriental white stork