I can’t remember the last time we talked about a bird – okay, I lied, think the last bird we did was the Ibis, but that is not going to stop me from writing about another bird species today.  That’s right, we are going to learn about a bird that is more often heard than seen throughout Japan.  Of course this little passerine bird is called the Uguisu but also known as the Japanese Bush Warbler, the Spring Bird or the Spring Announcing Bird.  I am not a genius but I am willing to bet this little bird represents the beginning of spring.  Well, enough chit-chat, let’s take a closer look at the Uguisu.

As mentioned the Uguisu is a small bird found throughout most of Japan but can also be spotted or heard in China and Taiwan.  Now these little birds may be fairly dull in appearance but what they lack in colourful beauty they certainly make up for with their songs.  The Uguisu is known to have a beautiful singing voice and has often been referred to as the Japanese Nightingale.  I guess this comparison makes sense on a number of levels since the Japanese Bush Warbler shares numerous other traits with the Nightingale.  For example, both bird species tend to be solitary, feast on a variety of insects and do not display sexual dimorphism (okay, I didn’t mean to throw out the big biology word – well maybe I did, a little – but basically this just means that both the female and male are similar in size, colour and other physical characteristics).

Earlier I indicated that you would probably hear the Uguisu long before you ever saw them.  This has to do with the fact that this particular bird likes to be secretive and as such spends most of the daylight hours hiding among the leaves. Once they are protected by the shadows of the trees, they will begin to sing their beautiful songs for all of us to hear (yes, I know they are just singing to either attract a mate or warn an intruder but sometimes I like to think the bird is singing just for me).  If you live on the large Japanese Island of Hokkaido then you may actually get to see these birds more often then other people.  You see, these birds tend to migrate to other countries in an attempt to escape the cold mountain winters, providing ample viewing opportunities as they fly away.  If you ask me, this is a pretty smart plan.

Wow, that Wild Fact went pretty quick but I guess this is a good time to call it a day.  I hope you enjoyed our bird fact and I will see you back here tomorrow for some more exciting animal facts.