The Bonin Islands are oceanic islands situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean 1,000 km south of the Japanese main island of Honshu. These islands lacked terrestrial mammalian carnivores until human colonization in 1830. Early immigrants introduced domestic cats Felis earns to the islands, some of which escaped from the island's residential area. Even by 1877 there were already reports of there being many feral cats on the island (Obana 1877). Cat predation is known to impact native bird populations on various islands around the world, such as the offshore islands of New Zealand and the Canary Islands in the eastern Atlantic Ocean (Fitzgerald & Veitch 1985, Nogales et al. 1992, Powlesland et al. 1995). In the Bonin Islands also, many studies have highlighted the impact of cat predation on native birds (e.g. Tokyo Regional Forest Office 1994, Tokyo Regional Forest Office 1996, Kawakami 2000). Ya-mashita (1934) supposed that the extinction of endemic birds (such as the Ogasawara Islands Thrush Tardus rerresrris and the Ogasawara Islands Grosbeak Chaunoprocrus ferreorostris) in the Bonin Islands was partly caused by predation of increased feral cats. But, no detailed study has been conducted on the diet of feral cats. Cat predation on small birds is considered to be underestimated, because such prey are eaten whole by cats and few visible remains are left after predation (Kawakami 2000).
Reprinted from Kawakami K, Higuchi H (2002) Ornithological Science 1:143-144, with permission of The Ornithological Society of Japan.
(Received 5 December 2001; Accepted 14 February 2002)
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
BirdLife International (2001) Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book Part B. BirdLife International, Cambridge.
Fitzgerald BM & Veitch CR (1985) The cats of Hereko-pare Island, New Zealand; their history, ecology and affects on birdlife. N Z J Zool 12: 319–330.
Kawakami K (2000) Bird deaths in the Bonin Islands. Anim Zoo 52: 12–16 (in Japanese).
Nogales M, Rodriguez JL, Delgado G, Quilis V & Tru-jillo O (1992) The diet of feral cats (Felis catus) on Alegranza Island (North of Lanzarote. Canary Islands). Folia Zool 41: 209–212.
Obana S (1877) Ogasawarajima-Yorolcu I (in Japanese).
Ornithological Society of Japan (2000) Check-list of Japanese birds. 6th ed. Ornithological Society of Japan, Obihiro.
Powlesland RG, Roberts A, Lloyd RD & Merton DV (1995) Number, fate, and distribution of kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) found on Stewart Island, New Zealand, 1979–92. N Z J Zool 22: 239–248.
Tokyo Regional Forest Office (1994) Report on the consemation of endangered Ogasawara Islands Honeyeater Apalopteron familiare hahasima. (in Japanese).
Tokyo Regional Forest Office (1996) Report on the conservation of endangered Oriental Greenfinch Cardu-elis sinica, (in Japanese).
Yamashita F (1934) The birds of the Bonin Islands. Yacho 1: 619–627 (in Japanese).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kawakami, K., Higuchi, H. (2010). Bird predation by domestic cats on Hahajima Island, Bonin Islands, Japan. In: Kawakami, K., Okochi, I. (eds) Restoring the Oceanic Island Ecosystem. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53859-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53859-2_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo
Print ISBN: 978-4-431-53858-5
Online ISBN: 978-4-431-53859-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)