Places and times seen in Munakata city

It can be seen on the sea as a waterfowl or bird, but the chance to see it from the coast is poor. In recent years there is a tendency to Kitakami, opportunities to see also Munakata is increasing.

Characteristic

Total length 64 - 74 cm. Same colors of both sexes. Adult birds are almost entirely dark brown, and the underside below the belly and part of the rain cover are white. The beak is pale yellow, the males are bluish at the bare areas around the eyes and the females are yellow. The tail is dark brown and wedge shaped. The feet are pale yellow.
In young birds, the whole body is slightly bright black brown, and the underside below belly has brown mottled spots. Part of the rain cover is white. The foot is pinkish.

Habit

Fly around the sea, find fish, squid and so on, dive quickly and dive into the water and catch the bait with the beak.

distribution

In Japan, breeding occurs in the Izu Islands, the Ogasawara Islands, the Kusakaki Islands (Kagoshima Prefecture), the Iwo Elephant Islands (Kagoshima Prefecture), the Tokara Islands (Kagoshima Prefecture), Nakajima Island (Okinawa Prefecture Miyakojima island) be able to. In addition, we can observe Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu.
It can be observed in the ocean, islands, coastal areas of the tropics to the subtropics of the Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

Other

It is a symbol bird of Ushito Town, Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture (Beef Shi City before the merger), and at Beechwood Harbor you can observe the skipjack flighting for predation. Also, you can see individuals stuck in a buoy from Kumamoto Port - Shimabara Passage.