Nine Crested Ibises Take Flight Over Noto as Japan Widens the Bird's Return to Its Main Island
Nine captive-bred crested ibises, or toki, were released in Nakanoto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on 7 October, the second release of the endangered bird on Japan's main island of Honshu, bringing the number set free in Ishikawa this year to 27.
Just News Desk, Correspondent||4 min read
NAKANOTO, Japan - Nine crested ibises were released into the wild in the Haruki district of Nakanoto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on 7 October, the second release of the endangered bird on Japan's main island of Honshu, according to the town government. The birds followed 18 ibises returned to the wild in nearby Hakui in May and June, Kyodo News reported, bringing the number released in Ishikawa this year to 27.
The crested ibis, known in Japan as toki and designated a special natural treasure, once ranged widely across the country. The Ministry of the Environment's history of the reintroduction programme records that the last five wild birds were captured on Sado Island in 1981, leaving the species extinct in the wild in Japan. Birds provided by China from 1999 formed the basis of a captive breeding effort, and releases on Sado began in 2008. The ministry says the wild population there has since exceeded 500.
A crested ibis, or toki, in a green field in Japan, photographed on 7 June 2020. Photo: belvedere04, via iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Source page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nipponia_nippon_77371852.jpg
The nine birds were moved on 25 September from Sado, in Niigata Prefecture, to a temporary cage at the release site, where they were kept for a little more than 10 days, Ishikawa TV reported. Officials used a soft release, opening the cage and waiting for the birds to leave on their own. According to the prefecture, all nine had flown out by about 1 p.m., roughly an hour and a half after the cage was opened.
About 70 people, including Gov. Yamano of Ishikawa and Mayor Miyashita of Nakanoto, attended a commemorative ceremony in the town. "We see this as a new start in building a community where toki and people live side by side," Mayor Miyashita said, in remarks broadcast by Ishikawa TV and translated by Just Positive.
The Crested Ibis Reintroduction Station on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, photographed on 13 August 2012. The large netted structure is the acclimatization cage where birds train before release; the Noto birds were brought from Sado. Photo: Hisagi, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Source page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sado_Crested_Ibis_Reintroduction_Center.jpg
Governor Yamano cast the release as a beginning rather than an achievement. "This is not the goal," he said. "Creating an environment where toki can settle leads to a sustainable society, and the prefecture and the town will work closely together toward that." The prefecture has asked residents not to approach or feed the birds, and the town is collecting sighting reports through an online form to track where the ibises settle.
A crested ibis drinks at a pond in the aviary of Toki-no-Mori Park, the crested ibis conservation centre on Sado Island, photographed on 29 May 2014. Photo: rhodnite, via Flickr and Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Source page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nipponia_Nippon_in_Sado_Ibis_Conservation_Center.jpg
The Noto releases follow a 2025 government decision, noted in the ministry's programme history, to return the bird to the Noto region in 2026. Further releases are planned. On 13 October the Ministry of the Environment published a draft plan for additional releases in the Noto area in autumn 2027 and early summer 2028, NHK reported, and the proposal was to be discussed at a ministry review panel on crested ibis reintroduction the following day.
The Nakanoto town office in Ishikawa Prefecture, photographed on 24 February 2019. The town is asking residents to report sightings of the released ibises. Photo: 聖石大戦ぶぅぶぅ, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nakanoto_Town_Office.jpg
The primary account is the Nakanoto Town government's announcement, updated 9 October 2026, "中能登町春木地区でトキが放鳥されました！" (https://www.town.nakanoto.ishikawa.jp/soshiki/nourin/6655.html). The Hakui figure and Honshu sequence are from Kyodo News, 7 October 2026 (https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/87456). Transfer, soft release, timing, the Ishikawa total of 27 and the officials' remarks are from Ishikawa TV via FNN Prime Online, 7 October 2026 (https://www.fnn.jp/articles/-/1128602). The 2027 and 2028 plan is from NHK, 13 October 2026 (https://news.web.nhk/newsweb/na/nd-20261013de58721). Historical background is from the Ministry of the Environment Sado Nature Conservation Office's "History of the Crested Ibis" (https://kanto.env.go.jp/content/000299310.pdf). Official photographs of the release are not reproduced here; the images above are freely licensed files on Wikimedia Commons, captioned for what they actually show.
- environment
- conservation
- birds
- japan
- crested-ibis
- wildlife
