Japan is home to over 700 bird species. The island nation is home to several diverse habitats, including broadleaf forests, mixed forests, coniferous forests, coasts, and wetlands, making it quite hospitable for avifauna.
The national bird of Japan is the Japanese Green Pheasant. Other notable species include the Japanese Quail, the Narcissus Flycatcher, and the Red-crowned Crane.
List of Common Birds Found in Japan
Native Birds
- Amami Woodcock
- Asian Brown Flycatcher
- Asian Rosy Finch
- Asian Stubtail
- Barn Swallow
- Black-browed Reed Warbler
- Black Drongo
- Black-faced Bunting
- Black Kite
- Black-naped Oriole
- Black-winged Stilt
- Black Woodpigeon
- Blakiston’s Fish-owl
- Blue-and-white Flycatcher
- Blue Rock Thrush
- Bonin Wood Pigeon
- Brown Dipper
- Brown-eared Bulbul
- Bull-headed Shrike
- Chestnut-cheeked Starling
- Common Kingfisher
- Copper Pheasant
- Crested Ibis
- Crested Kingfisher
- Daurian Redstart
- Dusky Thrush
- Eastern Buzzard
- Eastern Marsh Harrier
- Eastern Spot-billed Duck
- Eurasian Bullfinch
- Eurasian Jay
- Eurasian Skylark
- Eurasian Treecreeper
- Eurasian Tree Sparrow
- Eurasian Wigeon
- Gray Bunting
- Gray-faced Buzzard
- Gray-headed Lapwing
- Gray Heron
- Great Spotted Woodpecker
- Green Pheasant
- Hawfinch
- Izu Thrush
- Japanese Accentor
- Japanese Bush Warbler
- Japanese Cormorant
- Japanese Gray Thrush
- Japanese Greenfinch
- Japanese Green Pheasant
- Japanese Green Woodpecker
- Japanese Grosbeak
- Japanese Murrelet
- Japanese Night Heron
- Japanese Nightjar
- Japanese Paradise Flycatcher
- Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
- Japanese Quail
- Japanese Reed Bunting
- Japanese Reed Warbler
- Japanese Robin
- Japanese Scops Owl
- Japanese Sparrowhawk
- Japanese Thrush
- Japanese Tit
- Japanese Wagtail
- Japanese Waxwing
- Japanese White-eye
- Japanese White Stork
- Japanese Yellow Bunting
- Large-billed Crow
- Lidth’s Jay
- Light-vented Bulbul
- Little Egret
- Little Grebe
- Long-tailed Rosefinch
- Long-tailed Tit
- Mandarin Duck
- Meadow Bunting
- Narcissus Flycatcher
- Okinawa Rail
- Oriental Greenfinch
- Oriental Turtle Dove
- Pacific Swift
- Paddyfield Warbler
- Pale Thrush
- Pallas’s Leaf Warbler
- Pallas’s Rosefinch
- Red-crowned Crane
- Red-flanked Bluetail
- Rufous-tailed Robin
- Rufous-turtle Dove
- Rustic Bunting
- Ryūkyū Scoops Owl
- Ryukyu Wood Pigeon
- Steller’s Sea Eagle
- Ural Owl
- Varied Tit
- White’s Thrush
- White-backed Woodpecker
- White-bellied Green Pigeon
- White-cheeked Starling
- White Wagtail
- Willow Tit
- Yellow-browed Warbler
Non-native Birds
- Alexandrine Parakeet
- Bank Myna
- Black-rumped Waxbill
- Budgerigar
- Chestnut Munia
- Chinese Bamboo-partridge
- Chinese Hwamei
- Common Myna
- Crested Myna
- Eastern Paradise-whydah
- Indian Peafowl
- Java Sparrow
- Lesser Masked-weaver
- Moustached Laughingthrush
- Mute Swan
- Northern Red Bishop
- Orange-cheeked Waxbill
- Pin-tailed Whydah
- Red Avadavat
- Red-billed Leiothrix
- Red-breasted Parakeet
- Red-crested Cardinal
- Red-whiskered Bulbul
- Rock Pigeon
- Rose-ringed Parakeet
- Scaly-breasted Munia
- Siamese Pied Starling
- Taiwan Bamboo-partridge
- White-headed Munia
- White-rumped Munia
Some of the best birdwatching sites in Japan include Hokkaido Island, Tokyo Bay, and Nemuro Peninsula. The peak season for birding in Japan is from April to June.
