Environment

Sado Wildlife in Focus | Crested Ibis Chicks Hatch, Heralding New Life

This month's installment of Fumie Oyama's photo series on Sado Island's wildlife presents the crested ibis and its abundant prey in flooded spring rice paddies.

Published

4 months ago

June 6, 2024

Fumie Oyama, Photojournalist

A crested ibis flying with a small branch against a radiant clear blue sky. (©Fumie Oyama)

Read the full story on Japan 2 Earth - Sado Wildlife in Focus | Crested Ibis Chicks Hatch, Heralding New Life

Rice planting season has begun on Sado Island, home to the endangered crested ibis and an area renowned for its delicious rice. In preparation, rice paddies are flooded with water. Unlike in winter, the wet paddies harbor an abundance of small creatures.

On April 30, the hatching of the first two crested ibis chicks of the season was announced. Reports have also been made on several hatchings of chicks in captivity.

Chicks Hatch in the Wild

The paddies filled with water, and I too have been spending my days planting seedlings using a rice planting machine. The physical work of lifting and lowering seedling trays is energizing after a long winter of inactivity.

*A crested ibis catches a loach (dojo) in its beak from a muddy rice paddy. (©Fumie Oyama)*

Amid this busy period for the rice farmer, some good news was announced. On April 30, the Ministry of the Environment's Sado Nature Conservation Office reported the successful hatching of chicks born in the wild again this year.

The chicks' parents are a 10-year-old male and female born in 2014. While the bird couple has been together since 2017, this year marks the first time in four years that chicks have been confirmed.

Continue reading the full story on Japan 2 Earth to view more stunning photos of the endangered crested ibis foraging in spring rice paddies.

And find more great articles on the environment and the challenges of achieving the SDGs on our affiliated website Japan 2 Earth (J2E), sparking a transition to a sustainable future.

(Read the article in Japanese.)

Author: Fumie Oyama

Click here to read more Sado Wildlife in Focus photo essays by photojournalist Fumie Oyama.

Fumie Oyama is a two-time winner of the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association Award as a photographer for the Sankei Shimbun. After covering the reintroduction of the crested ibis to the wild for 11 years, Oyama left the company in 2020 to move to Sado Island. There, he continues to photograph the ibis and other wildlife while engaging in farming. He currently promotes the charms of Sado Island as a photojournalist. Follow Fumie Oyama on Instagram.