Ornithol Sci 4: 73–79 (2005)
Ornithol Sci 4: 73–79 (2005) ORIGINAL ARTICLE The distribution of the Malayan Night Heron Gorsachius melanolophus in the Yaeyama and Miyako Islands, southern Japan Kazuto KAWAKAMI1,# and Masaki FUJITA2 1 Tama Forest Science Garden, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Todori 1833, Hachioji, Tokyo 193–0843, Japan 2 Laboratory of Biodiversity Science, School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1–1–1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113–8657, Japan Abstract The Malayan Night Heron Gorsachius melanolophus is a threatened ORNITHOLOGICAL species that inhabits the Yaeyama Island group in the extreme southwest of the SCIENCE Ryukyu Archipelago, southern Japan. The species’ distribution in Japan, which has © The Ornithological Society been poorly known, was surveyed on the basis of sound and sight records, and inter- of Japan 2005 views. The species was confirmed to occur on Ishigaki, Iriomote, Kuroshima, Ko- hama, Taketomi, Hateruma, Yonaguni, Miyako, Kurima, and Tarama islands. This range is wider than expected and records were independent of the area of islands. The past underestimation of the species’ range was likely to have been the result of a lack of research effort and the unremarkable ecology and morphology of the species. The population density was found to be higher on Iriomote Is., covered with abundant for- est, than on Ishigaki Is. with more degraded forests. Despite the wider than previously thought range, its range is still not very extensive in Japan; furthermore, increasing predators and introduced competitors may well endanger the population in the near future. Key words Distribution, Gorsachius melanolophus, Malayan Night Heron, Popula- tion density, The Yaeyama Islands The Malayan Night Heron Gorsachius melanolo- Archipelago (Fig.
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