Birds of Izunuma and Uchinuma and Their Habitat

The greater white-fronted goose is a large goose with a white forehead and black bars on the belly, visiting Japan as a winter migrant. Flocks famously lift off together from their roosting marshes at dawn. Wintering sites such as Izunuma-Uchinuma in Miyagi and Katano-no-Kamoike in Ishikawa are designated Natural Monuments, and the species itself is protected.

Bean geese, including forms classified internationally as Taiga and Tundra Bean Geese, are large geese with an orange band near the bill tip that visit Japan in winter. They feed on roots and waste grain in paddies and marshes. They are protected as a national Natural Monument under the Japanese name Hishikui, and wintering sites such as Izunuma-Uchinuma and Katano-no-Kamoike are also protected.

The whooper swan is a large white swan whose yellow bill patch extends far toward the tip, arriving in Japan from the north in winter. It feeds on aquatic plants in lakes and rivers and moves in family groups. "The swans of Kominato and their wintering ground" in Hiranai, Aomori, is a Special Natural Monument, and sites such as Izunuma-Uchinuma in Miyagi, Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima and Suibara in Niigata are also Natural Monuments.

The tundra swan is a white swan with a small yellow patch at the bill base, arriving in Japan in winter from Siberia. It feeds on lakes and in paddies, calling to one another in flocks. Wintering sites such as Izunuma-Uchinuma in Miyagi, Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima and Suibara in Niigata are Natural Monuments.