The homing instinct of the lilac-breasted roller.

Seiko Mizuno (23) of the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology at Okayama University has found that there is a high possibility that the lilac-breasted roller, a migratory bird that is classified as an "endangered 1B species" by the Ministry of the Environment's Red List and is at risk of extinction in the near future, has a homing instinct, in a survey conducted in Kibichuo-cho. This will be presented at the Ornithological Society of Japan in Osaka in September. The lilac-breasted roller is a bird that arrives from Southeast Asia in early May, and detailed research on its ecology, including its lifespan, has not progressed, so it is hoped that we will be able to elucidate its behavioral patterns. Last May, Ms. Mizuno attached a leg ring for individual identification to one of the pair of birds that flew into 12 nest boxes set up in the town. She came back to breed.Early this month, she confirmed that 7 of the 12 (10 males, 2 females) with leg rings (5 males, 2 females) returned to the same nest box. In the same town, residents have reported that they fly around the nest boxes many times before their migration in August. Mizuno said, "This behavior may be to confirm the location of the hive in order to return to the same location the next year." Professor Hiroshi Nakamura (animal ecology) at Shinshu University's Faculty of Education, who is an expert on bird ecology, said, "It had been speculated that the birds return to the same nest, but this is the first case where we have been able to prove it."

*The above article was published on the Sanyo Shimbun website (5/29/2011).
It has now been deleted, but I have reposted it here.
There is also an article about the lilac-breasted roller on the website of the Graduate School of Okayama University. I think if you search for "Okayama University Bupposou", you'll find a hit.
　

Photo exhibition 2010

Buppou Sou (Lilac-breasted roller) aims for Kamo-go!

Sponsored by Enjoji Temple Daiba Shrine

A trip around the Kamogawa area of Kibichuo-cho

(This is a photo exhibition focusing on sightseeing spots in Kibichuo-cho. It is not a photo exhibition of the lilacn-breasted roller.)

Period Venue/Location
February 6th - March 16th, 2010 Resparle Fujiganaru (2F)
From the Sanyo Expressway Okayama IC, take National Route 53 for about 5 km and about 15 minutes East-southeast of Okayama Airport
March 16th to 31st Roadside Station (Michi-no-Eki) Enjo
April 1st to 3rd Hall next to Kamogawa Exchange Plaza, Hokancho, Okayama City

The current Kamogawa district of Kibichuo-cho, Kaga-gun, Okayama Prefecture is a hilly and mountainous area located almost in the center of Okayama Prefecture. Due to urbanization, the population is aging and depopulating, and most of the areas are marginal or semi-marginal villages, where in another 20 years, they may return to the mountains and fields where wild boars roam. However, there was a time when this area was extremely prosperous. For example, Hongusan Enjoji, which was built about 1,300 years ago, has the main hall of Goken-do, which was rebuilt in the Edo period, and has many ceiling paintings. The shrines and carvings are unparalleled anywhere in the country, and the eight shrines that gather at the Kamo City Festival, which has been designated as an important intangible cultural property by the prefecture, all boast spectacular shrines in the mountains. All of these things simply show the depth of history, depth of faith, and depth of culture in this area.
Since it is not a tourist destination, there are no leisure facilities, but if you would like to experience and learn about the long history and culture that has existed in the country of Japan, this is a place that has been passed down to the present day, and which has been passed down even before extinction. This is a place of life and faith.
The photos displayed here are just a few points that mark the entrance for you to visit Kamo-go. If you are interested in these photos, please visit the real place. It may not be possible to do it all at once, but if you visit us repeatedly, you will be able to encounter the Japanese spirit that has been forgotten in the cities.
The bird in the photo, the Bupposo (Lilac-breasted roller), is an endangered migratory bird designated by the Ministry of the Environment. Currently, the number of confirmed birds that have migrated to Japan is estimated to be about 7 to 800, and half or a third of them have come to Kamo-go (present-day Kamogawa district, Kibichuo-cho). Around June, you can see their beautiful appearance all over Kamo-go. They are migratory birds that have been popular in waka poems since the Heian period, and their recent dramatic decline is said to be largely due to environmental destruction caused by human economic activity (money-making). Moreover, the reason that this beautiful bird can only be seen in Kamo-go, in Japan, is due to the efforts of people (specifically, the Okayama Prefecture Branch of the Wild Bird Association) to discover and protect it. (For more information, please refer to the separate pamphlet, Stories from Bupposo). This shows that the environment can be destroyed or regenerated by humans. Like Bupposo, all of Japan's agricultural and fishing villages, including Kamo-go, are at risk of extinction. Whether they will perish or be reborn depends on our hearts. My dream is to designate all of Japan's agricultural and fishing villages as World Heritage Sites and preserve them if possible.

　

Photo taken by Yuno Nishiyama 　　I found it online, so I've linked it with his permission. This is a wonderful photo. The photo was taken in Kibichuo-cho (site administrator).