Tag - animal-tracker

 
 

ANIMAL TRACKER

Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 11, 2007
Greenshank
* Japanese name: Aoashi-shigi * Scientific name: Tringa nebularia * Description: An elegant, medium-sized wading bird (some 30-cm long in the body), the greenshank lives up to its name: It has long green legs ("shanks"). It also has a long sharp bill, which is gray at the base and, unlike other waders'...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 28, 2007
Tree sparrow
* Japanese name: Suzume * Scientific name: Passer montanus * Description: A small bird, some 12.5- to 14-cm long, it has a rich brown-colored head, with a hint of copper. There is a black patch on the cheeks and a double white bar across the brown wings. Males and females are almost identical in size...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 14, 2007
Teal
* Japanese name: Kogamo * Scientific name: Anas crecca crecca * Description: A small, surface-feeding dabbling duck, the teal is 34- to 38-cm long and has a 58- to 64-cm wingspan. Males (known as drakes) have an orange-chestnut colored head with a large stripe of emerald green, trimmed with a thin thread...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 28, 2007
Tree nymph butterfly
* Japanese name: Ogomadara * Scientific name: Idea leuconoe * Description: This large, striking, black-and-white butterfly is also known as the rice-paper butterfly, perhaps because of the unusual texture of the wings, but also perhaps because the way it flits and floats in the air is said to be like...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Feb 14, 2007
Indian blue peafowl
* Japanese name: Kujaku * Scientific name: Pavo cristatus * Description: Large birds far more often seen on the ground than in the air, peafowl are unmistakable. The male -- the peacock -- has a vibrant royal-blue neck and breast, a white "face" and a gigantic ornamental tail that may be dragged along...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 10, 2007
Peregrine falcon
* Japanese name: Hayabusa * Scientific name: Falco peregrinus * Description: Powerful and majestic birds, peregrine falcons are as large as a crow, some 50-cm long with a 1-meter wingspan. They have tapered, blue-gray wings, a short tail, yellow legs, black bars on their backs and pale underbellies....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 13, 2006
Nuthatch
* Japanese name: Gojukara * Scientific name: Sitta europaea * Description: The nuthatch is a charismatic, plucky little bird, about the size of a great tit, though a little plumper. It is a subtle blue-gray color above and white below. The sides of the bird, and its tail, are chestnut, but it is unmistakable...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 22, 2006
Three-spined stickleback
* Japanese name: Hario * Scientific name: Gasterosteus aculeatus leiurus * Description: Small, perky fish, as adults sticklebacks are typically between 6- and 10-cm long. They have 30 to 40 lateral armor plates along their sides, and also three long dorsal spines that can be raised. * Where to find...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 8, 2006
Chiton
* Japanese name: Hizara-gai * Scientific name: Acanthopleura japonica * Description: Chitons are mollusks, not bivalves like mussels, but single-shelled animals like limpets. To the casual observer, though, these creatures, which grow to about 4-cm long, might not be noticed, as they blend in extremely...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 25, 2006
Wide-abdomen mantid
* Japanese name: Harabiro-kamakiri * Scientific name: Hierodula patellifera * Description: There are several species of praying mantids in Japan, and this is one of the smaller-sized ones. Males grow to between 45-65 mm long, with the females a bit bigger at 52-70 mm. Interestingly, it comes in two...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 11, 2006
Spangle
* Japanese name: Kuro-ageha * Scientific name: Papilio protenor * Description: This is a stunning, exotic and beautiful butterfly with black-and-white forewings patterned almost like a zebra, and black hindwings with a delicate white border and deep red eyespots with black centers. The borders of the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 27, 2006
Gigi catfish
* Japanese name: Gigi * Scientific name: Pelteobagrus nudiceps * Description: This is a rather small, 10- to 15-cm-long bottom-dwelling river fish that is remarkable for being one of the few aquatic organisms to have a voice. Fishermen report that when a gigi catfish is landed, it emits a "giiii-giiii"...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 13, 2006
Elephant hawkmoth
* Japanese name: Beni-suzume * Scientific name: Deilephila elpenor lewisii * Description: Large, remarkably handsome insects with a wingspan of 62-72 mm, adult elephant hawkmoths are a velvety, olive-brown in color with a gorgeous pink flush to the wings and the sides of the abdomen. They also have...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 23, 2006
Forest green tree frog
* Japanese name: Moriao-gaeru * Scientific name: Rhacophorus arboreus * Description: A cute little, beautiful green frog; males are 4-6 cm long, females are 6-8 cm long. The backs can be mottled with brown speckles, and the number of these speckles varies according to where in the country they live....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 9, 2006
Drone beetle Kanabun
* Scientific name: Rhomborrhina japonica * Description: Large, handsome and sturdy insects, drone beetles have distinctive antennae that end in a club that can be fanned out to form a leafy antenna with a large surface area -- the better to detect odors carried in the air. The beetles are around 4...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 26, 2006
Galleyworm
* Japanese name: Baba-yasude * Scientific name: Parafontaria species * Description: Galleyworms are not worms but millipedes: elongated, cylindrical arthropods, with two pairs of legs on each body segment. Millipede means "1,000 legs" but these species have around 20 body segments, so therefore about...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 12, 2006
Jewelwing damselfly
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 28, 2006
Eight-barbel loach
* Japanese name: Hotoke-dojo * Scientific name: Lefua echigonia * Description: Loaches are in the family of ray-finned fish. They have a flattened body, and four pairs of sensory organs, known as barbels, around the mouth, like whiskers. Catfish have similar sensory organs, but belong to a different...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 14, 2006
Cattle egret
* Japanese name: Amasagi * Scientific name: Bubulcus ibis * Description: Cattle egrets are in the heron family, but they are shorter and have stouter necks than their relatives. They have a "hunched" posture, even when they stand up straight. They are medium-sized birds, 46-56 cm long, with a wingspan...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 24, 2006
Schlegel's green tree frog
* Japanese name: Schlegel-aogaeru * Scientific name: Rhacophorus schlegelii * Description: Schlegel's green tree frog is a medium-sized tree frog, which at a few centimeters long still makes it smaller than most other frogs and toads. The back is green, although some frogs have small yellow spots on...

Longform

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