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Title Bonin White-Eye

  • Tokyo
Topic(s)：
$SETTINGS_DB.genreMap.get($item)
Medium/Media of Use：
Pamphlet Web Page
Text Length：
≤250 Words
FY Prepared：
2019
Associated Tourism Board：
Ogasawara Ecotourism Counci
Associated Address：
Nishimachi, Chichijima, Ogasawara-mura , Tokyo to

ハハジマメグロ

ハハジマメグロは、母島とその周辺の島々に生息する小笠原諸島固有の小鳥である。通常、その一生を半径20メートル以内で送る。家の裏庭や菜園でよく見られ、島民たちに愛されている。体は丸く、羽の色は黄と緑。目の周りには特徴的な白い輪があり、その輪は黒い三角形に囲まれている。英名、日本名ともにその目の色模様が名前の起源となっており、英名の‟white-eye（メジロ科）”は白い輪を、「黒い目」を意味する日本名のメグロは周りを囲んでいる三角形を指している。

島に人間がやって来る以前、ハハジマメグロにはノスリを除いて天敵がいなかったため、人間や土地固有のその他の動物に対して先天的な恐怖心を今も備えていない。そのため、定住者とともに島にやって来たネコやネズミに簡単に捕らえられてしまう。現在、島に生息する野鳥の保護対策が行われており、その結果、すべてのネコには登録が必要となり、通常は屋内で飼われている。

ハハジマメグロは主にアリや昆虫を食べるが、果物も食べる習性があり、地上でも樹上でも食事をすることが確認されている。島に捕食者が持ち込まれるまでは、進化の過程で直面した一番の危険は嵐であった。島に来る台風の強風から最大限身を守れるように木の幹近くに巣を作る。このメグロの巣作りの方針は日本の他の地域に生息するメジロとは異なる。メジロは一般的に、ヘビやネズミなどの捕食者から身を守るために枝の先端近くに巣を作るためである。


Bonin White-Eye

The Bonin white-eye is a small songbird native to the Ogasawara Islands that lives on Hahajima and its surrounding islands. After reaching adulthood, these birds rarely venture more than 20 meters from their nests. They are frequently found in backyards and gardens and are beloved by the people on the island. Bonin white-eyes have round bodies, yellow and green feathers, and a distinctive white ring surrounded by a black triangle around each eye. Their eye markings are the source of their name in both English and Japanese—the English name “white-eye” refers to the white ring, while the Japanese name (meguro) means “black-eye” and refers to the surrounding triangle.

Before humans came to the islands, Bonin white-eyes had no predators other than the common buzzard, and they have no innate fear of humans or other land-based animals. They are therefore easily hunted by the cats and rats that came to the islands along with the human settlers. Currently, measures to protect the wild birds of the islands are in place, and all cats must be registered and are generally kept indoors.

Bonin white-eyes primarily eat ants and other insects, but they will also eat fruit and are noted for feeding on the ground as well as in trees. Until humans introduced predators to the islands, storms were the primary danger that the birds faced throughout their evolution. They make their nests near the trunks of trees for maximum protection against the strong typhoon winds that visit the islands. This nest-building strategy is different from that of white-eyes in other parts of Japan, which commonly make their nests near the ends of branches as protection from predators such as snakes and mice.


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