Japanese Bush Warbler

Horornis diphone (Kittlitz, 1830)

16 cmLength13 gWeight

It has olive-brown upperparts, a pale supercilium and an upturned bill like a smile, and is often heard but not seen.

Busiest months: March–May and December · Most records: Japan, South Korea, China

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Olive-rufous upperparts
Rather dark underparts
Pale supercilium
Upturned bill, like a smile

Voice

The breeding song is rendered as “Hoohokekyo”, preceded by a few “pi pi pi” notes.

Where and when it's recorded

Japanese Bush Warbler has been recorded at 192 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 3 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Edogawa Ward – Kasai Rinkai Park / Kasai Kaihin ParkJapan814 records
Nerima Ward – Shakujii ParkJapan508 records
Yeliu IBATaiwan (China)413 records

More places

Wajima – Hegurajima (island)Japan404 records
Niigata – Lake ToyanogataJapan304 records
Sakata – Tobishima (island)Japan302 records
Katsushika Ward – Mizumoto ParkJapan233 records
Yokohama – Sakai River Wetland Prefectural ParkJapan225 records
Ichikawa – Gyotoku Bird SanctuaryJapan216 records
Ota Ward – Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park (including Tidal Pond)Japan205 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Japan South Korea China

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The Japanese bush warbler (Horornis diphone), known in Japanese as uguisu (鶯), is an Asian passerine bird more often heard than seen. Its distinctive breeding song can be heard throughout much of Japan from the start of spring.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Japanese Bush Warbler?

The Japanese Bush Warbler is about 16 cm long and weighs around 13 g.

Where does the Japanese Bush Warbler live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: Sakhalin Islands to Japan and Ryukyu Islands and eastern, central China. It is most often recorded in Japan, South Korea and China.