Monday, March 11, 2024

Finding the Japanese Robin

My Neighbours The Yamadas was a very light-hearted animated series which had comical characters that were endearing, relatable and gave me a glimpse into the middle-class family life of Japan. The grandmother (祖母) in that cartoon series reminded me of my late maternal grandmother from Kedah who according to my mother would use a wooden bat to whack her children should they misbehave, just like how this Japanese grandma would continue to discipline Mrs Yamada when the latter forgot to run some errands for the family.    

There was a call of a songbird in one of the scenes (screenshot as above) in which I could identify the call as that of the Japanese Robin. This was cross-checked against the audio of this Japanese Robin species which I came across in a checklist submitted to eBird Japan, the checklist of which is as below:- 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S140736868

To find, record and observe my first Japanese Robin remains a lifelong quest of mine which I really hope to embark on when I get the opportunity to travel beyond Malaysia. eBird Japan website highlighted a campaign on Waterbirds and a screenshot of their website (translated from Japanese to English) is provided HERE. Wild Bird Society of Japan has an English website which can be viewed HERE. One of eBird Japan sponsors listed was Suntory Group which is a global leader in consumer products such as beverages, beer and wines, wellness products. Suntory's sponsorship could be seen as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative to protect wild birds and their environment. Clicking through their logo at the homepage of eBird Japan leads me to a website which appears to be dedicated to migratory birds highlighting five in particular which are illustrated in mid-flight, with their sounds made available by clicking on their respective pictures. An example is shown below and you can visit their interactive website by clicking on image below:-

Tropicbird versus Frigatebirds